Bouquet of two Roses
by WhensunshinewiltsIdanceinrain
Summary: Rose Weasley & Rose Sanders met on the train to hogwarts. With Rose Weasley being the nosiest child to walk the earth, Rose Sanders being blind & having nymph blood, & a secret of Ministirial proportions, no one will leave hogwarts this year untouched.
1. Of a Death and Two Births

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_Warning_**

** Rating for Slight Language, attempt of sexual abuse of a child before his slightly graphic death by the pissed mother handling a gun. Except it's not really graphic at all, so you don't really need to worry about that, in fact, the words i have used to describe the happenings in the chapter are more graphic than the actual happening inside the chapter itslef. Does that make sense?**

**Whatever. Just read please!**

**-Mary**

Two shadowed figures walked over to a young unconscious man in black dress robes tied to a chair. The man lolled his head and his eyes fluttered open as he heard the footsteps.

"Donna?" he murmured groggily. A cruel laughter filled the room.

"She's not important." The voice growled. "We need to know where to find the woman."

"What woman?" the man replied confusedly. A flash of red light and the the entire chair convulsed as the man let out an agonized scream. "WHAT WOMAN!?" he cried.

"Leave him be." came a second, gruff voice. "He's not worth it."

"WAIT!" he screamed. "WHERE'S DONNA!?" All he got in response was the quiet whimpering's of a toddler.

"Mummy?" it called out uncertainly. He sniffed in the darkness. "Where's my Mummy?" he cried.

"That's what we'd like to know." the gruff voice said. There was a swishing sound of a wand.

"_Cruc-"_

"NO! Don't hurt him!" a lisped girl's voice rang through the dark room.

_Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap_

A light turned on in the room, revealing at least fifty people chained to chairs, coming round to consciousness, and two large men, one of whom had his wand raised to a little coffee-haired boy. And in the door frame stood a young bare-footed woman in a frizzy blond ponytail and a navy catsuit with a gun pointed directly at the man's head. No one saw her heel fluttering up and down, making the slapping tap sound of her bare heel against the tiled floor.

"Lay one finger on my son and I swear-" she started, but one of the men laughed out loud when she stepped into view. Light had reflected on her face, showing with a amazing clarity her tilted, pale pink, unseeing eyes

"You're _blind_!" he wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. "You can't see a thing!"

"That is typically the definition of blind." the woman said dryly, unfazed.

"But you can't _aim_." the gruff-voiced man said. "We've heard so much about you. The great Rose Anora Sanders. Legendary! They told us to _watch out for you_! What a joke! You wouldn't risk anybody's life in here to shoot me." A sneaky smile appeared on his face. "So what's to stop me from-"

_BANG!_

The woman pulled the trigger before he even began reaching towards the toddler's crotch. He fell to the ground, a bullet-hole not visible, because it ran straight through his ear.

"I swore." she said coldly. The second man waved his wand faster than any of the now awake hostages could have imagined, but the curse was never shot as the man began clutching his head in agony at the last minute, his wand falling forgotten from his fingers.

"MAKE IT STOP!" he yelled, scrawled on the floor, twitching in spasm's.

"Mummy?" asked the lisped girl fearfully. The woman dropped her gun and ran over to the chained girl, taking her in her arms, crying softly.

"Oh baby, mummy's here. Mummy's never leaving you again."

"What happened to the man Mommy? Where you hurting him?" the woman cried. After a moment, she answered.

"Yes Eve. I hurt him."

"Why?" The woman pulled back and looked into her daughter's eyes.

"Because I love you. I love you more than life itself and I will do anything to save you. You and Claude both. This man was about to horrible things to you two, to find _me_. But listen to me. I will _never_," she said fiercely. "I will never let you get hurt because of my job. Okay? Those bad guys will never ever hurt you. I promise."

"Okay." Eve nodded. The woman smiled and kissed her on the cheek. Then she got up and started freeing the adults who knew how to get others out. By the time they were all freed, the ministry had arrived to make sure that all was well .

"Some of them are a little bruised, but over all I think we're good." Rose was saying to the aurors. Little Eve was looking around, making sure everyone was okay. She saw this lump of a man crawling to something small. He picked it up and pointed it in the direction of her mom. The light glinted on it. She knew what that was. Her mother told at home never to touch it. What was the man doing with-

Oh no.

"**MUMMY!**"

_BANG!_

It seemed like slow motion. She turned around, her ponytail flopping behind her. Halfway, her chest heaved upward. A large dark red stain tainted her blond hair. Her knees buckled. She crumbled to the ground with a clack. And her voice echoed inside her head before it dissipated, never to be heard again.

_Oh baby Mommy's here... Mommy's never leaving you again..._

"WAAAAAAAHH!"

"Shh, sweetie, calm down now..." a healer-trainee hushed. The fully credited healer hit him on-top of the head.

"You dolt, give the baby to it's mother!" She said, handing over the baby girl in her own arms to a sweaty but radiantly smiling young adult Eve.

"Twins?" said a short, brown-haired man hoarsely.

"Two girls. Fraternal." The trainee said proudly, as if he himself had just given the birth. Eve rocked the baby in her arms.

"We only decided on one name for a girl." The man whispered. Eve smiled.

"Then we'll have to come up with one more. We'll call this one the one we decided on."

"Lydia Marinne." The man said fondly.

The healer trainee fumbled over to Eve with the second baby.

"And for her?" The healer asked.

"How about... Yvonne Jean?" The man said.

At this, the baby opened her eyes. A familiar pale, unseeing pink.

"No." Eve whispered, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Rose Anora. Rose Anora Sanders."

The man gasped.

"She's blind!" Instead of frowning or sobbing, Eve smiled and laughed.

"Yeah. Just like her grandma."

"Eve are you on crack? Our daughter is blind! She's-"

"Then I'll have to start making some of my mother's potion eh?"

"But-"

"Richard calm down. Rose will be as normal as possible. You knew there was a chance of this happening, I told you, it's been in my family for a long time. It's a mutation. She's blind, but she'll have a super memory, she'll be a powerful occlumens, she'll _feel_ other people's emotions and see through _their_ eyes if she has or want's too. But she probably won't, because over the many generations this has been in my family we've invented a potion that will help her see by amplifying tiny vibrations. Shell be able to tell where everything is everytime she touches something, and she'll be able to tell better than anybody else. She'll be able to notice the tiniest things, like lady bugs on leaves, and where there are knots in her hair. She'll be able to function in society fine."

"Oh yes! _Completely_ normal!" Richard said. Then he sighed. "What about reading?"

"Well, she's an occlumens. She'll be able to read by gathering what other people are reading as they read it. That's how my mom did it. Dad used to sit in an armchair and read her work papers while she sat in the chair next to him and took in his thoughts as he read them. I think he used to joke in his head a lot because sometimes I'd come in and she would laugh out loud. She had a great laugh." Richard softened.

"You know that I'll never resent her, right? I'm just- just a little shocked." Eve looked up and smiled at him. She leaned over and kissed him.

"I know." she whispered, inches away from his face. "You always dive head first into the pool of crazy shit in my life. You just need to dip your toe in first." Richard stared at her.

"Nice analogy."

"Eh, hormones." Eve shrugged and the couple laughed.

_4 hours later..._

"PUSH! PUSH GODAMMIT!" yelled the healer-trainee. The Fully credited healer smacked the back of his head.

"DON'T YELL AT A WOMAN IN LABOR!"

"IS MY WIFE OKAY!?" yelled a tall frantic red haired man.

"SIR IF YOU KEEP YELLING WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO ESCORT YOU OUT!"

"WHAT IS UP WITH ALL THESE PREGNANT WOMEN!?" yelled the healer trainee panically.

"Why are you all yelling?" said the woman on the birth-giving bed calmly. The three turned to her.

"Why aren't you screaming in pain like they do in the stories?" asked the red haired man.

"Uh, because it doesn't hurt." said the woman.

"Okay, uh, just um, push then." said the trainee. The woman nodded kindly.

"Yes..." she said, as if congratulating a small child. Ten minutes later a tiny freshly cleaned baby with a bushel of red hair and lots of little freckles was handed to the couple.

"What will you name her?" asked the healer tiredly.

"Rose, after my mother." said the woman.

"Well hold on, what about a middle name?" the man asked.

"We didn't decide on a middle name!" the woman said.

"But she can't not have a middle name!"

"Fine! What do think we should call her?"

"How about Rose Olga?"

"What! There is no way I'm letting my child be named _Olga_!"

"Well it's her middle name, it's not we'll be calling her that all the time!"

"Well we're not calling her Olga. How about Molly?"

"Percy already named _his_ daughter Molly!"

"'It's her middle name, it's not like we're going to be calling her that all the time.'" mimicked the woman.

"Ugh. Okay, how about, Licorice?" There was silence.

"Yeah you're right. Uh...What's Hermione backwards?"

"We have some baby naming books if you would like." the trainee interjected kindly.

"Why Hermione _backwards_? What about... Leanne?" the woman tried.

"Leanne is a nice name." the man agreed. "I can totally see her as Rose Leanne. Although... my cousin did have _2_ middle names."

"Oh really?" said the woman teasingly.

"Yes. And I've always liked the name Emmeline." The woman's eyes sparkled.

"I have an Aunt named Emmeline!" she said excitedly. "Okay, so Rose Leanne Emmeline Granger Weasley." the woman said.

"Yeah." the man whispered, gazing lovingly at his new born daughter. "Rose Leanne Emmeline Granger Weasley."

**Salut, I am Mary. This story is a little different from my others, though I do make a mention the first Rose Anora Sanders in my story Just Smile. I struggled a little with the transitioning and the dialogue, tell me if there's anything you thought was unclear, ask me any questions, tell me you thought it was an absolute piece of crap. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!**


	2. Of a Nymphian Forest and Tiny Apartments

H**elooooooooo. I just have to say, I think this is my favorite story of all the ones I'm writing right now. Now this chapter I had a little fun with. In my mind, Luna Lovegood would be an awesome story telling, so I always, in any of my stories or fantasies of stories, make Luna the most wanted for a bedtime story, who children shamelessly say is much better than their parents. This chapter is mostly about Rose **_**Sanders**_** family history, but I promise, it'll be about about the **_**2**_** of them, in due time. The next chapter i thin, will be about Roe Granger Weasley and her gazillion cousin's plus my 11 longbottom children. Un-huh, **_**eleven**_** children. Oh yeah, I can't separate the italics with a line or anything, I've been trying for about 10 minutes, so I'm gonna try a bunch of wierd stuff.**

_Once, at the beginning of time, there was a dry, bare patch of land. All over it, there were nymphs of all sorts. The lifelessness of this land hurt the very core of the nymphs being, and they cried for long hours when they found it. But when a nymph cries, it creates._

. . . . . . . . . . . .

In their small apartment, Eve opened a cabinet and got out some popcorn. She slid it into the microwave and taped 1 3 0 into the number pad, little beeps emitting as she did. A muffled vacuum sound roared from the microwave when she pressed GO, and she swiftly grabbed the DVD out of it's Netflix case and slid it into the player, resting under a medium sized television.

"Mummy, is the movie on yet?" asked little Rosey, grasping at anything she could to hold herself up in a standing position/crawling into the room excitedly, her thick british accent almost gobbling her words. Just after her was a very flustered looking Richard.

"Sweetie no, you're supposed to wait until Mummy tells you to come in." He looked up at his wife, picking Rosey up in his arms. "I'm sorry Eve. It's hard to distract her when she can feel all her toys in this room." Eve laughed.

"Don't worry about it." Then she looked around with a critical eye. "I know the apartments small," she said worriedly. "but as soon as I get my bonus we can-"

"Eve." Richard cut her off. "I know. Don't _you_ worry about it." Eve smiled, but continued to speak.

"But I mean, you said you grew up in a _forest_, with a small village where everybody knew each other, and you loved animals and fresh air and being outside and this-" she gestured the tiny kitchen on one half of the room and the sofa and television on the other, the small dinner table in between and the three doors, one which led to the bedroom the four of them shared, one to a bathroom, and the other to the hall which held the elevator to go down and out. "-isn't exactly out and about." Then she collapsed onto the sofa tiredly. "You hate it here." she whimpered. "And this is no place for Rosey to grow up in. No friends her own age, completely oblivious to the magical world..." Richard sighed.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

_The Flower sprites and the Wood Brownies tears were of seeds. These seeds blew into the air scattered all over the land. The Air Pixies blew music into the winds and the Water Dyads cried tears that streamed into the ground, creating Rivers and pools, and gave the seeds water, too drink. The Earth Gnomes created caves and hills and rocks that became waterfalls. The birth faeries created waves of fertility, making the ground rich and moist for the seeds while the Life Imps called to animals muggle and magic alike, and when they were done, a beautiful paradise was created._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Daddy, why is Mummy sad?" Rose whispered to her father. He hushed her and pat her on the back.

"Mummy is feeling claustrophobic at the moment Rosey. Trapped in her own life." he said. Eve looked up and smiled gratefully.

"She doesn't like where we live?" Rose asked curiously. Richard shook his head.

"No sweetie. Mummy hates where we live." Rose buried her head into her dads neck.

"So why don't we go to the forest?" she mumbled. The parents stared at their daughter.

"What?" Eve croaked.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_But there was the problem of the humans. _

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

"To the forest where daddy lived when he was tiny!" exclaimed Rose happily. Even though she was young, she had learned to talk when she was seven months old, something Richard said was probably because of the super memory, and held many conversations with her parents. The potion worked wonders, and Rose 'saw' whenever she touched something. She was still learning that her parents didn't see the same way she did though, but she was catching on.

"The- the forest?" Richard said, shifting on the balls of his feet. He looked directly at Eve.

"We couldn't- could we?" she said dumbfounded.

"Probably." Richard muttered. "But I'm thinking about Rose. Maybe she'll be... _too_ involved in the magical world. She might get angry and disappointed when she realizes how the world really is, and how people treat it. That's how I was when I got to Hogwarts."

"Well I think you turned out fine." Eve exclaimed, standing up excitedly.

"What about school, for Rose, and Lydia?" he said.

Eve rolled her eyes.

"I got into hogwarts, my mum got into hogwarts, you got into hogwarts..."

"Because my parents asked specifically! And I barely got in because of my living in the forest! And Rose! Lydia might get in okay, but when they find out Rose is-" he stopped. "It would be hard."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_All the nymphs agreed that with their wars and weapons, humans were to dangerous to allow into the forest which they loved like it was their child. And it was. They would give their lives to protect the forest. And for thousands of years, though some braves ones tried, no human entered. It was completely untouched, amidst war and tragedy and famine in the human world, they never got into the forest, which thrived with life and care and love. It was dubbed haunted, enchanted, cursed, and no one could get in or cut down the trees, even at the very rim._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"It will be hard here. If we're gonna have it rough, I'd prefer to have it surrounded by beauty where my charismatic, charming, handsome husband grew up." she said, lacing her arms around his neck and Rose's head, holding them in a loving hug.

"So will we?" Rose asked cautiously. Eve looked at Richard. Richard closed his eyes.

"If we can assure she'll get into hogwarts, aand Lydia agrees, and we'll visit your friends and brother a lot-"

"YES ROSEY!" Eve cried. Rose threw her arms out wide and giggled in a baby-ish fashion.

"YAY!" she called loudly. Richard opened his eyes.

"Eve... I grew up surrounded by _nymphs_. My _grandmother_ is a_ air pixie_. She helped me make my own wand with the help of her friend Gadsby, the Maple Elve. I was brewing potions by-"

"Your mother's an air spirit?" Eve interjected curiously. "Do you have wings?" Richard coughed.

"Um, I can fly, but I'm a guy, so I don't have-"

"Daddy can _FLY_!!" Rose yelled. Eve looked at him with intrigue.

"Will Rose or Lydia get wings?"

"I'm going to have _WINGS_?!" Rose squealed delightfully.

"Um, I think they already do." Rose's eyes widened. Eve eyed him fiercely.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_Then one day, during the age of the Salem Witch Trials, the nymphs took pity on a little girl named Harmony, being chased by her neighbors, who claimed she was a witch and needed to die. The nymphs saved her and gained a romantic vision of raising her as their own. But Harmony had other ideas. Her mother and friends were going to be hanged because of speculation that they practiced sorcery. She wanted them to be saved. The nymphs were hesitant. With each human, there would be another, and another, each who would want to bring more humans to the forest._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"_What_?" she and Rose exclaimed, and Richard looked like he wished he was anywhere but where he was.

"I just, it was when they were really small. Sometimes I thought I saw her... glowing. Fluttering. It was always really quickly, out of the corner of my eye, only once or twice-"

"How did _you_ discover you could fly?" Eve said sternly.

"I ah- I saw some of the birds in the forest, and I wanted to fly with them. I was only about 2, but the next thing I knew, I was floating. Floating and glowing. I'm only a quarter Air Pixie, but my granddad was a Water Dyad, so my mother was a Rain Sprite, and so I'm half Rain sprite, which allowed me to fly more than if I was just a quarter Air Pixie. Rose might not be as powerful, but I think that quarter of Nymphian blood might help her see stuff in the air that doesn't touch anything, meaning she can't 'see' it with the potion, and definitely help her with her balance and grace and broom stick flying. I get tingles when it's about to rain, maybe she will too." Richard looked very nervous. "But I mean, it's so unpredictable and abnormal, nymphian magic, I just want her to have the opportunity to have as normal a childhood as possible, unlike mine." he finished. Eve looked at Rose, who didn't seem to have understood most of the conversation.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_But Harmony wondered, what if they made a small village in the forest? Just a small one, without too many people. Each human would have to be approved by every single nymph to be let in. This worked for the nymphs. They especially loved the children, who had so many ideas and were so easy to inspire and teach. Soon a small town of humans, muggle or wizard, was formed in the heart of the forest. They were all humanitarians, and the nymphs helped them get by without damaging the forest._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"So... I have wings?" she asked. Eve laughed and took her from Richard. Her question remained unanswered.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_And to this very day, the forest and the village still thrive and love their earth life, but they go unnoticed, untouched, and secret. Even right now, they live, and they love, _

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Richard, you've had about as normal as childhood as me. Where do you think Rose and Lydie are going to be happiest? Because here, I don't think it's the safest neighborhood, and they could definitely be heading for one like _mine_." she finished on a much darker note than she had started.

"The forest..." Richard said slowly. " is heavily protected by nymphs. They'd probably let Rosey and Lydie through, but because of customs, you would have to be excepted and approved by every single nymph in the forest." Eve brushed a lock of her dark curly hair behind her ear. Her eyes shone passionate determination and with Rose in her hands, she looked invincible.

"Let's go."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_...and they're grateful for every second._"

A silence followed those words. Luna yawned and picked up little Penny Longbottom and James Potter off of her expanding lap, and sleepy little toddlers all over the room reluctantly headed for their parents, who were leaning against the wall, save Ginny, who was in a large armchair with Albus and James because she was _very _pregnant, getting ready to leave.

"That was a great story auntie Luna!" Victoire Weasley and Maria Longbottom cried together.

"Thank you for the Story Time Auntie Luna, you're so much better than my mommy and daddy!" called Molly. Audrey and Percy blushed. Even _Percy_ never missed story time with Luna Scamander.

Teddy Lupin looked thoughtful before he said to the roomful of people,

"That _was_ a great story. I only wish it was _real_."

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**So what did you think? PLEEAAASSEE REVIEW. I had a little trouble at the end, and at first it was a much more detailed myth bit, but then my computer crashed and I lost it :(. But seriously, no matter how short, you have no idea how much it thrills an author (me) when they get a review, and someone has written what they thought about the chapter, even if they think it sucks. that's less thrilling, but still thrilling at the same time. SO I'd really love a review. Or two or three. or seven. I'm getting views, people, i know you're out there, so tell me what you think. I hate when authors moan about not getting reviews, so this is the only time I'm gonna do it.**

**Holy crap the disclaimer! **

**Myth: all mine**

**Longbottom children: all mine**

**Harry Potter and all related logos+ characters: **_**not mine**_**.**

**Eve Rose L_ydia _****and Richard: Cent pourcent a moi! (That's french people. There should be an accent on the a, but you don't care. Unless, you're french. In which case, you would care. And are probably cringing at your computers.)**

_**-Mary**_

**P.S. Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about Lydia, so I edited this chapter to fit her in subtly. She's on a playdate or something.**


	3. Of Mainly Victoire and Teddy

If you were in front of the burrow, you would see a house. The first floor was made of stones like it was an over large pig-pen. Rooms after room was added on haphazardly and many chimneys protruded from the top. Chickens and gnomes ran around the small front yard, but the back yard stretched on and out, stopping a little ways away from Ottery St. Catchpole. Behind the burrow, a little to the left, you see an enormous tree with thick strong branches that dive up and out to reach the sun, far above the burrow itself, then bend down, leaves skimming the ground.

If you look closely enough though, you can see a long, thin gray tower poking through and slightly out of the tallest branches of the tree. This tower comes out of a house, tucked away and protected from view by the tree and the burrow. This house has a porch that extends all around the building, dotted by sunchairs and hammocks. It's painted a pale buttercup yellow with dark mossy green shingles, and has many windows. It's nearly always in the shade, and many children's toys are left out in front of it. Its front face's the Burrow's backyard, and a spectacular view of the village at the base of the hill.

The inside of this house is much larger than the outside, because, though many of the people in Ottery St. Catchpole don't know, the people who own this land are wizards. And witches, respectfully.

Many _famous_ wizards and witches actually, who bought the land for their parent's, who live in the burrow. The burrow is a home for many people other than those who actually live there. Many, _many_ people, who are building family's of their own and spend less time in their own homes than they do in the burrow. To handle this issue, they, being the famous and relatively wealthy witches and wizards they were, bought the land around the burrow, and build a spare house, hidden by the tree.

And this house was _not_ neglected. You could usually assume that there were at least 5 people in the house apart from the 2 live-in housekeepers and healer.

The house was always jam packed during the summer, especially this summer in particular, the year 2009. This was the summer a certain Teddy Remus Lupin was going to Hogwarts. And in one of the bedrooms, a certain little Granger-Weasley was comforting her older cousin.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do once he leaves Rosey." sniffed the eight-year-old, her long silvery blond hair falling in her pretty face, hugging her battered knees. Victoire was something of a tom-boy, much to the dismay of her mother. Rose rubbed her back soothingly, as she saw her aunt Ginny do when James fell off a swing and hurt his elbow. She stayed completely silent, sitting on her cousin's dark chocolate brown bedspread, but it comforted the little girl anyways. "I'm not gonna see him until christmas." she said hopelessly, tears falling in her face. "He'll have a bunch of new friends." she muffled a sob. "He's gonna forget me." Rose stopped rubbing her back.

"Ex_cuse_ me?" she said bossily, her voice heavy with attitude and command. "Towi listen to yowself! You and Teddy are best frwends, he would _never_ fowget you."

"But what if he-"

"If he does, I'll get Uncle George to whack him up side the head!" Rose exclaimed, clapping her hands to hands together so that they made a loud smacking impact. Victoire let out a breathy laugh and brought a slender finger to her eyes, pulling it back and staring at one of her tears. She shook it off.

"That's horrible." she smiled at her. Rose grinned.

"Well I won't have to, because he'll forget you when Miss Skeeter and Auntie Alicia don't need Mandy to stop them from fighting over what goes in their magazine." Victoire smiled and punched Roses arm lightly.

"You know you're pretty cool for a three-year-old cuz." Rose fluffed her hair with one arm on her hip, grinning cheekily. Victoire rolled her eyes and sighed. Then she leaned over and gave her a hug, causing the two of them to fall over giggling on the bed.

"So come on!" Rose yelled, getting up. "We gotta get going or the train we leave without him. He wouldn't leave without saying good bye to his favorite Weasley!" she grabbed Victoire's washed blue jean jacket and ran out of the room. Victoire just sat there, gob-smacked, then she came to her senses.

"ROSEY!" The the girl fled her room, running down the peachy colored hall, narrowly doing her friend Alice Longbottom, who had staggered out of her room to see what was going on.

"Victory!" she said meekly, though surprised.

"ALICE?!" Victoire called, still running. "Oh my gosh. SORRY!"

"S'okay." the girl replied softly. Victoire skidded to a halt as she saw a slide on the side of the hall, and a gaping hole on the wall where people dumped their laundry.

"She took the chute." Alice said vaguely. Victoire smiled her thanks and dove head first down the hole. Alice nodded her head tiredly and stumbled back into her room.

Victoire slid straight past different exists. In this house, the chute was constantly used like floo, unless of course there was actual laundry. Not many adults knew of this method of transportation.

"_VICTOIRE APOLINE GINVERVA DELACOUR WEASLEY!!"_

But Fleur did.

Victoire cringed as she slid out into the kitchens like a penguin, where her mother was making french toast for breakfast with Rosa, Elaine and Gavan. They were the house-keepers, taken in by various Weasley's who wanted to help them find work. Gavan came in to help when the house was full, as did the healer, Coreen, but Elaine and Rosa lived there year round, taking care of it when there weren't as many people.

"'Ow many times 'ave I told you _not_ to use the chutes?! They are dangereux! Que-ce passera t'il si tu casse ta tête sur une-"

"Alors j'aurais cassais la tete!" Victoire spat angrily. Her mother insisted that her children learned french, and resorted to it constantly when she was angry. Victoire did not enjoy how much her mother restricted her because she took after her dad. Sur her knees were always scabby, her arms smudged with dirt, but she didn't care!

"DO NOT TALK TO ME LIKE ZAT YOUNG FEMME!" Fleur yelled. Rosa stepped between them, bright red nails pressed against their chests.

"Tori," she said sharply, looking at Fleur challengingly, as she hated when people called her daughter anything other than Victoire. "Rose ran to the dinning room." And at that, she darted off, leaving Fleur to suffer the wrath of a testy Rosa, who did not enjoy people conversing in a language she did not understand.

"Rose!" Victoire yelled again. She sprinted out of the dinning room, turning a corner and running smack into someone, toppling over onto the wooden floor.

"TORI!" yelled a familiar voice as they crashed. Victoire got to her knees, panting.

"Teddy?" she breathed. And indeed, in all his turquoise haired glory, there was Teddy Lupin, thoroughly confused as to why he was laying on ground. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I was looking for Rose. She took my jacket."

"Rose?" Teddy repeated. "I haven't seen her, but I was just about to go get something to eat, wanna come?" Victoire smiled nervously.

"Eh, you go, my mum caught me using the chutes, and I just left her to the mercy of Rosa." Teddy cringed and hissed like he'd been burned.

"I'll take two servings, meet you on the roof?" he asked. Victoire grinned.

"I'll go get another jacket." she murmured. Teddy left and headed for the kitchens. Victoire sighed, and was about to leave when a soft thud hit her head and fell over her eyes. She picked it off and held it in front of her and gasped. In her hands was her blue jean jacket. She looked up just in time see a square metal vent shaft snap shut with a _click_. Victoire grinned. The house was chock full of secret passageways, and her darling little cousin had just taught her one more.

Inside the vent, which was large enough to hold a three-year-old quite comfortably, Rose smiled at her cousin who was staring at the shaft she was lying in. Victoire probably thought that she knew how to get up, but she had no idea about the conveniently placed laddersteps that popped out of the wall if you kicked the border at just underneath the electrical circuit they had installed to please Arthur. Mandy Broklehurst had hooked them up with her electrician cousin who decided to live his life as a muggle, so he didn't find the much much larger house interior suspicious in the least.

Rose took a turn that led her just above the wall of the dinning room. It's ceiling was higher, so she had to all around the room to get to the kitchen. When she did, she heard Teddy's footstep's echoing out of the large room. She looked through the vent shaft in the corner and opened it very slightly. It made a sharp click that echoed loudly.

"What was zat?" Fleur asked. Rose wavered the shaft very slightly, so that Gavan, Elaine and Rosa would see it, but Fleur wouldn't notice. They didn't so much as look at each other, because they did this for Rose al the time.

"I have no idea." Elaine said rather unbelievably, causing Fleur to glance at her. As she did, Rosa whipped out her wand and set Gavan's french toast on fire, then tucked it away.

"Crap!" he hissed realistically, easily the best actor of the three. He was known for his mouth and his atrocious cooking skills. While Rosa stepped in front of Fleur to get to him, blocking her momentarily, while Elaine winked in Rose's direction. Rose hopped down through the vent and landed with a soft smat, because the floor's were made of a fake-tile carpet, to make cleaning easier. Fleur didn't hear a thing through the commotion they were making, which was just what Rose counted on. She dove into the laundry chute, and Rosa, who had been shoved to the side by Fleur, rushed to close the shaft.

Two hours later, no less than 48 people, not including Andromeda, came to wish Teddy off to Hogwarts at kings cross station. They actually clustered around platform ten, letting other wizard families through their crowd to enter the station, because the ministry wouldn't let them all go through at once, there was no way the muggles wouldn't notice. So 47 times, Teddy was hugged, kissed, lifted, high-fived, pat on the back, wished good luck, until his grandmother Andromeda ushered him through the wall. She gave him a quick kiss, cried for a second, and then left him to pack his truck. He groaned when he tried to drag his heavy trunk behind him, until suddenly, the weight was lifted. He turned around, and saw his best friend in the whole world grabbing onto the other end. The moment he saw her, both of them dropped the trunk and ran into each other for a hug. Little did they notice, but Rose had tottered through the gate too. When she saw them, she raised her eyebrows and hid behind a a trunk.

"I thought you had forgotten to say good-bye

" Teddy whispered.

"Never, you're my best mate." Victoire replied. The two let go of their hug, still holding hands, swinging them loosely.

"You're mine too. And I'll owl you every day, okay?" Victoire jabbed her finger into the middle of his chest.

"Every day buster. You too, kay?" They high-fived with their free hands and started to load Teddy's trunk, chattering all the way. Andromeda walked over to Rose and tapped her shoulder. Rose cringed, turned, and blushed shamefully.

"It's not proper to_ spy_, Rose." she said.

"But you'll still let me right?" Andromeda laughed.

"How about this, I let you spy, I'll tell your parents. You quit spying right now, and I won't." Rose debated for a moment.

"You drive a bargain Granny Andy." Rose said finally. "But I think I've pleased my gossip gland for the day, I'll go find my mum and dad." Andromeda pat her on the back.

"Good girl. Stall for Victory when you do. Love you!" she called.

"Love you too!" Rose called back.

* * *

**Alright, I'm not totally happy with this chapter, but I managed to give most of the information about their lifestyle and the house that I wanted to get in. I did three other drafts that I abandoned because I was squeezing in too much information, and then I realized that in my timeline I had rose born in the wrong year! Next chapter, the Roses start hogwarts! Review and I'll list all the 49 people who came to greet Teddy, and I'll give a brief discription about who the heck Mandy is.**

**With more to come,**

**-Mary**


	4. Of Madame Malkin and a Fancy Broom

**Okay, get ready for the longest chapter I will probably ever ****do. -Mary**

_The Letter_

Rose Anora

"Mum?" Rose asked, blinking at the paper in her hands. "Mum, what is this?"

_... School for Witchcraft and Wizardry..._

The phrase strayed into her head from her sister, who was also clutching a similar paper. If she wanted to, Rose could have looked into her sister's mind, see what the paper read, but often times she forgot she could, reading was of little use in a forest.

"Mum?" Rose repeated. Lydia staggered backwards and sat down, still staring at the paper.

"Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry?!" she said, furrowing her brow aggrivatedly. "_Why _would we need to go there?!" Eve fidgeted in her seat. "We- this is a joke right? We're not _leaving_ the forest are we?!" Richard placed his hand on Lydia's shoulder.

"We, your mum and I, think that you need to experience the real world, the world outside the forest-" each of the words rang in Roses head, but what scared her was Lydia's rising anger, and underneath that, fear. She burst from her chair and whipped around to face her dad.

"We know what the world outside the forest is like!" she snarled. "We go see Uncle Claude and- and Emtu and Sylvia. And we hear the news you talk about! The global warming, the wars, the selfishness, the robotic, sheep-herded lives all the pathetic and lazy and _fat_ people lead! They _eat_ other animals! Other _child_ animals! It's _evil_ out there, I don't want anything to do with it, but you seem to think it's all the rave! It's fantastic! Daddy, these people are killers, destroyers, they have no morals what so ever! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK WE CAN OR WOULD EVEN _WANT_ TO HANDLE THAT?!" There was a ringing silence in the air.

"Rose?" Eve asked tentatively. "What do think?" Rose was silent. Usually she didn't speak much, Lydia did all the talking enough for the both of them, and knew exactly what she thought. But this time... She slowly crawled into her sister's mind, trying to calm her anger. This time, Lydia was afraid.

"It's good to be informed..." Rose said slowly, teasing loose the vicious knots of rage her sister had dealt up in her head. "And to meet new people." When ever Rose spoke, unlike Lydia, it was because she had planned on having something to say. "I would... like to go." she said, drawing each word out. She could feel Lydia's burning gaze on her. "But not without Lyd." Lydia sighed deeply, all eyes were on her. She laughed.

"You break me so easy Rosey. Fine, I'll go too."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Rose Leanne Emmeline

The owls came into the table where every one was having breakfast. One owl in particular, no one recognized, and it landed on the table without a clue who to go to, so Roxanne, who was nearest, picked up it's letters. Her eyes went wide and she muttered something no one heard.

"What was that sweetie?" Grandma Molly asked brightly, bringing in a tray of piled high with steaming muffins, quickly followed by Elaine, who was carrying jams.

"It-it's Rose's Hogwarts letter!" she shrieked excitedly, dark orange dreadlocks' bouncy on her almond colored skin. Rose stood up and ran over to her cousin. Roxanne was only a few months younger than Lily, and the prospect of hogwarts fascinated her just as much. She grabbed the letter in her cousin's hands and tore it open with shaking fingers. There was complete silence as Roses eyes rapidly skimmed back and forth over the pages. Finally she looked up.

"I'M GOING TO HOGWARTS!" she screamed.

_The Birthday_

Rose Anora

Lydia and Rose decided very early on that they wanted their birthdays to be about all about them, but separate. They wanted the time to be about _them_, not about _both of them_, not only so that every one wouldn't split their attention between them, but so _they_ could celebrate each other's birthday as well. So a week before their actual birthday, they decided who got the first half of the day, and who got the second. Usually Lydia got the morning, because naturally she was a morning person. Rose, on the other hand, was really any person she had the energy to be. Being blind, she couldn't really tell what time of day it was. She drank a strong calming tea that gave her a deep sleep when she went to bed, and drank a black coffee in the morning.

So on the late january morning of her 11th birthday, she woke up to Lydia, shaking her animatedly in the chill forest air. It got very cold in the forest in winter, and their small cottages were made of dry mud and straw(but still very sturdy), with leafy roofs that let in beautiful patterns of shadows on the floor, though it it didn't really save heat. During the winter they bundled up in clothing mostly lined with wool or fur they collected from their sheep dog, Silver Lining.

"Rose." she mumbled. Rose groaned and curled up into her thick blanket.

"_Rose_."

"Lyd geroff me. Tired." Lydia sighed.

"Fine, you want your coffee_ cold_ in the _middle of winter_ on your _birthday._" she glanced at Rose who groaned and started to get up. "Fine by me. Happy Birthday sis."

"Happy Birthday." Rose replied with a groggy smile. "Need caffeine." Lydia clutched her dyed-black dog fur coat closer to her chest and stepped briskly to the other side of the room, retrieving the steaming cup. She started to take a quick sip before giving it to her.

"Lydia keep away from my coffee." Rose growled warningly. Lydia sighed and handed it to her, a white cloud of breath escaping from her lips. She hated coffee anyways.

"Rose I am _freezing_. I'm gonna go get myself some tea and a cloak, kay?" Rose nodded.

"Be sure to come back in a few minutes after I wake up."

"Will do." Rose downed the coffee in a couple of gulps, hurting her throat from the heat, but in the winters at the forest, it literally took about 1 minute to turn liquids cold. She placed the mug on a shelf that extended from the wall near her bed. It was the winters where she was grateful for her head of thick blond hair.

In her room (which was very small, to take up as little space as possible in the forest, but also to keep in heat) there was was a small heater. It was a boulder that had been cut in half and carved at the bottom so it had six strong legs, and carved out at the top, so it was like a cauldron, though little crevices were dug into the outside walls first to place little things like cups of tea or gloves to keep warm. Under the legs there was a fire that the Fire Gremlins gave out every winter. It didn't burn anything at it's source, but it could heat up the cauldron, so they always filled it with water, that the fire boiled, and placed a large, flat floating dish inside it that clung to the edges of the top so it wouldn't sink and fill with water when you put something in it.

Rose always folded her clothing into it so they would be warm when she woke up. She got dressed in her warm clothes, ending with a long, dark green dress over thick tight pants and worn brown boots. She wrapped a pretty golden brown scarf around her neck and chin and jammed a black cap over her bushy blond hair. Grabbing her cloak she left the room and headed for the kitchen, the room with a largest heater, where she could feel Lydia was curled by her potion.

She went inside and sat next to her sister.

"What time is it anyways?" she laughed through chattering teeth, installing herself next to the heater and pouring herself a second cup of coffee with the pitcher inside the floating dish next to Lydia's tea pot. Lydia was about to protest but Rose raised finger.

"Ah, ah, ah, birthday girl can have two cups of coffee." Lydia slumped, sipping her tea.

"Unfortunately for the rest of us. It's round 5:30." Rose leaned back and groaned.

"_5:30_ Lyd?" Lydia grinned through her mug.

"Sun's gonna rise soon." she remarked. "Wanna go play in the snow?" Rose grinned as well, taking her sister's hand.

"Nothing better." The girls got presents and delicious cakes and all the attention in the world that day, but nothing was near the beauty of playing in the dark mystical fields with newly fallen snow with each other. Except, maybe, the cakes. I mean, they _were_ made with magic plants. Simplest yet most delicious cakes in the world to make.

Rose Leanne Emmeline

Rose was born only 5 days before Albus, so most people just stayed in the guest house for the five days in between birthdays or left their children there and came to the party's.

Rose woke up groggy the day after her eleventh birthday. She was sad, because many of her cousin's and friends were at _school_ and didn't be make it. By the time she got to hogwarts, most of them will have graduated and wouldn't be _there_ either. She changed into sea fog blue-green turtleneck and jeans. She was really cold, so she grabbed a sweatshirt that Victoire had given her when she left for hogwarts and Rose had confessed that she was feeling like Victoire would forget her like _she_ had felt about Teddy. It was a depressing gray-brown color but it had a large bright red sun in between the zipper line.

She decided that she would have to get over it. Even though she'd been expecting _at least_ a card. She headed for the chutes and dove in head first. For her, it never got old. She would go to the kitchens, that would get her mind off it. The exits flashed by her as she slid down, but she nearly had a heart attack when she saw the last person she was expecting as she passed one.

Inadvertently, she exited there instead of the kitchen.

"Oh, hey Rose." a voice said cheekily. Rose gasped and got to her feet.

"T-tori! Maria!" she stuttered, seeing the other girl in the corner. The two laughed and ran over to their friend. "H-how did you get here? Don't have to be at-"

"School?" Maria laughed into Roses bushy red hair. "We pulled some strings. We flooed here through Dads office. The adults don't know we're here though." she added. Rose pulled away.

"_WHA-_" she started to yell, but the girls rushed to slap their hands over her mouth.

"Yeah, they don't know. We do this for every body's eleventh actually, unless they're born during the summer." Maria said. "Any ways, we can't make it for the actual birthday, it would be too hard to get you away without anyone noticing, so we do it the day after. All of us are gonna be here kid, this is special. We floo here through Dad's office to the kitchens during meals. Elaine and Rosa cover for us. They don't count as adults." she said as Rose was about to interrupt. "They've been awesome, even made another cake." Rose laughed.

"Oooh you guys." she said, squeezing them tighter. "But won't they notice if I'm gone at the meals?"

"Did you notice when Louis or James missed meals?"

"Yeah, they said- oh."

"Exactly. Just tell every one that you're feeling a little sick when you go down. They'll think it's the cake, and Healer Coreen, she's also in on it, will say you need to stay in bed for the day. Elaine and Rosa will warn us if someone comes to check on you using a coin-" she tossed a coin that looked like a galleon at Rose, who caught it instinctively. "And we hang out with you on the roof. Teddy added the chimney into the Chute Floo system so you can get back in a flash, and it's fantastic to ride, like a roller coaster."

"Oh my gosh this is awesome!" Rose cried.

"Shh!"

"Sorry."

So Rose had two parties, both with different groups of people she loved beyond words, and she had the ability to smile at Albus's broken face when James didn't send him a card, and when Molly questioned whether there was something wrong with her cake.

_The Shopping _

Rose Anora

The whether was nice and sunny now, incredibly hot. Silver Lining didn't do much but lie around in the shady space between cottages. The village was built in a sandy clearing, and Rose and Lydia were in the village center, an area where all the villagers would go to meet and hold parties and place the rowdiest cocoon of Air Pixie winds in the summer. Like the Fire Gremlins, the Air sprits gave the village a gift to help handle seasonal difficulties. The winds circled around the center in a dome, not too rough, but creating a refreshing and cooling breeze.

"Come on Lydie you can do it!" Rose yelled at her sister. It was a local game they played to try and climb to top of the metal pole. Physically, it was impossible. The pole was too high, if someone reached the winds they would be blown off, because the winds are much stronger the higher up you go, and the pole is slicked with Oljujub bush sap, which is a magical plant who's sap is alternatingly very sticky or very slippery. But the kids tried anyways. Even when they were both old toddlers, Lydia had a knack for climbing the pole, so the older kids were constantly trying to regain their dignity and climb father than her.

"GO LYIDA! GO!" Rose was jumping up and down. Pretty soon she'll have made an all-time record. Tom, a neighborhood boy, was watching anxiously. He was two years older than them and also went to hogwarts. Didn't talk about it much.

"Please, please don't make it, please don't make it, please don't make." he chanted.

"You shouldn't pant so much, you'll hyperventilate." Rose said, not turning her unseeing gaze from Lydia. "Come on Lyd, just a few more- YES!!"

"NO!" Tom yelled. Lydia slid to the ground, bowing to the kids in the audience. Then she turned on Tom.

"_OH_ YEAH! IN- YOUR- _FACE_!" she screamed, deftly high-fiving Rose. The cheering slowed as Tom rolled up the loose sleeves on his thin pale yellow shirt. He was going to try and beat her. But whether or not he did, the girls wouldn't see.

"Lydia, Rose!" Eve cried frantically, running over to her daughters. "I completely forgot, we need to go shopping!" This word was new to the girls, people were taught any skill they needed, and the few experts in the town you knew by name and would ask them for the favor of doing it.

"Uh, shopping?" Eve planted her hands on her knees.

"For your hogwarts stuff."

"Aren't we just gonna make it?" Lydia asked, tensing. She still wasn't too happy about going.

"Um..." Eve checked the list. "Lesee.. the wand, well," the girls already had wands hand crafted by the nymphs, as everybody in the village did. In the village, wands were given out at age five, even they couldn't use them because wizarding magic didn't work in the forest, it just sparkled around them sometimes if it built up to much. "but the work robes? The hat? The gloves? The specific winter cloak? The books? My goddess the books. I just said goddess. Damn it's been too long since I've seen your Uncle Claude-"

"_Okay_." Rose said, placing a soothing hand on her mother's shoulder. "Let's get what we can get done here done first, then we'll go and shop. You still have money in that whatchamacallit. That bank. We can go and... shop."

"Okay, what can we get done here?" a moment's pause.

"You're gloves are strong enough, I reckon, and you have wands, but other than that, we need to go shopping girls."

_The Leaky Cauldron, 15 minutes later_

The family of four hobbled out of the fire place in the leaky cauldron. A few people stared at them because their clothes were slightly odd. Eve was wearing a pure white dress that contrasted attention-seekingly against her long, dark curly hair. Richard was wearing a slightly dirty shirt opened to his chest and shorts, and the girls had thrown on flowy dark skirts over their shorts and overlarge t-shirts that slipped off their shoulders, and Lydia was still covered in the sap from climbing the pole. None of them wore cloaks and they had barely remembered to wear shoes on their calloused feet, so they grabbed their dirty moccasins and flooed.

Despite their appearance, many young kids who were also shopping didn't hesitate to talk to them when they entered Diagon Alley. A thin-faced boy with messy black hair and glasses covering his bright green eyes ran up to them almost as soon as they got in.

"Did you hear? There's a new broom out, the Striker Five Eight Eight! It's said to be faster than anything yet, even my dads Firebolt!" Then he was gone almost as fast as he was there. For a moment there was silence.

"So let's start with getting you robes, shall we?" Richard said brightly.

The family laughed and headed for Madam Malkins. Rose, personally, was over whelmed. It had been a while since there so many people in one place who were touching things and bustling around, it was all she could do to find her parent's and sister's familiar footsteps in front of her. People usually thought that the potion made her invincible. It didn't. She could keep a close range of "sight" around her, say the size of a room, and notice every single thing, and the more she practiced, the wider her range got, but if she wanted to see more things, like a view, it got fuzzy. She either had to focus like a beacon on what she wanted to see, or make the range smaller. It was like actually seeing, almost. If you were looking over a huge field, you wouldn't notice every piece of grass. And now, this place with so many people, she could barely sort everything out, so it mashed into her brain in a confused jumble. She grabbed Lydia's arm. Lydia hurriedly placed her hand on top, because she was just as nervous and scared.

Rose let out a sigh of relief when they entered a shop. There were few people and it wasn't as noisy.

"A woman's coming." she whispered. It was a nervous habit of her's to tell people something they couldn't see. It made her feel secure. A wrinkly old woman came in from the back room.

"Eve? Richard?" she asked, appalled. Her parents nodded.

"Well come in, come in, let me get you settled." the woman bustled around and found some chairs. A blond haired boy getting fitted grimaced when Madame Malkin turned away from him help the strangely dressed people, and Rose felt spite radiating from his figure.

"Dottie, Dottie- come on now, you have a client." Richard stammered. The woman just chuckled happily.

"So wonderful to see you all again. How's the village? Looks as though your girl over there was climbing the pole." Lydia blushed.

"I-I just made an all time record." She said confused. Madame Malkin grabbed her hand and Rose's shoulder, leading them over to stands near the scowling boy.

"OH! Did you now? That's just wonderful! I used to live there you know, married Toms Shamble's brother Darien. After he died, I- well, I left. Opened the shop." she looked very sad for a moment, working on the boy's robes, and Rose and Lydia wore identical shocked expressions. No one mentioned Tom anymore. "Does-does Tom still live there?" The girls flinched.

"He died. Three years ago, widowed Annabelle and left her to raise their son, Tom." Eve said sadly for them. Tom had been well-loved in the village.

Suddenly a tight faced woman burst into room with complete disregard for the delicate silence in Tom and Darien's honor. She had fakelly curled and bleached hair and enormous boobs that mesmerized Lydia. It seemed impossible for boobs to be that big. They _jiggled_.

"Scorpius!" she screeched frantically, tears forming in her eyes. Rose felt a loud inward groan emit from the boy, but nobody needed her to say it out loud, it was seeping through his falsely cheer face. "Scorpius, my wedding is going _completely_ astray! The whole things a disaster, the flowers I ordered came in an _Eclipse Midnight Blue_ instead of the _Burned Blueberry Flesh_ from the catalogue!" the woman seemed ready to faint. The boy swallowed and started to speak.

"Um, Aunt Sosietta, why don't you just, um charm them? The flowers?" The woman stared at him.

"You _idiot_ boy!" she snarled, her boobs continuing to jiggle. "I _can't_ charm the flowers! If I could charm the flowers I wouldn't have ordered from the magazi-"

"Miss Greengrass, you are being very disruptive." Madame Malkin said quietly. Sosietta turned glared at her, though Madame Malkin didn't flinch. "Please take your nephew outside or discuss your issues with him after he has been fitted." Sosietta made to grab Scorpius's arm to take him outside but he said, quite loudly, "Mum would _kill_ you Auntie, don't even try."

The moment she left, Lydia laughed out loud.

"I ah, believe she's what you would call, a _diva_?" she giggled. Scorpius began to laugh too, though tried to keep still, because the slightest movement could send pins into his side. Madame Malkin was working fast now. She had already ran off to the back room because she had measured the girls.

"Tell me about it. So you know Madame Malkin?" he asked. Lydia shook her head.

"She, apparently, lived in our village briefly and was married to our friends brother, who died before we were born, but Tom didn't. Tom was an amazing guy. His son isn't, I don't think. His wife is a sweet woman. Stewart."

They chatted until their robes were done. Lydia got along very well with him, and eased her nerves about hogwarts. Rose was relatively quiet until he noticed her eyes. She explained that she blind and had a potion and the whole deal, even that she was an occlumens and found he took it better than most people. He asked questions, and for once, Rose was pretty chatty. Both girls agreed that they liked him and would try to find him when they got to the train. They bought a pair of tinted glasses for Rose so people wouldn't notice her eyes as much, which she grudgingly accepted. She wasn't ashamed or resentful of being blind, she didn't why she should hide it as if she was. They bought many strange things and were each allowed a pet. Rose got a tiny fluffy pale green owl called Casino and Lydia got a bright red with black spots kitten she named Dice.

Rose Leanne Emmeline

Rose had been to the Leaky Cauldron millions of times to visit the Longbottoms before they all went off to the school, then after that she just went to chat with Hannah, who was actually very interesting if you took the time to know her. She wasn't new to Diagon Alley, so shopping took awhile because she wanted a million books, three different styles of gloves, and sea fog blue-green robes, because that was her favorite color. They found her wand in a jiffy, her scales and cauldron in a snap. But the books were a pain, so was the jewelry and other clothing, and then they reached the brooms.

Rose _loved_ flying. Not quiditch, well, maybe quiditch with just the bludgers, but mostly she just loved flying. There was a new broom out that got Albus so excited he was running up to random strangers and telling them how amazing it was. The Striker Five Eight Eight. Sleek, dark wood, pale, thin bristles, no bells and whistles like so many brooms today had, it was just a broom. An amazing, surrounded by a halo of light broom. It distracted her from everything else with its magnificence. Hogwarts had lifted its rule that first years couldn't have their own brooms, but they needed consent from a quiditch referee saying they were proficient flyers. Rose got one when she was five.

"Please."

"No." Hermione said sternly.

"Please."

"No."

"Mum, I am dead set on getting this broom, nothing will stop me." Rose hissed.

"You have a perfectly good Firebolt honey-"

"Mum Firebolts are ancient!"

"Rose Leanne Emme-"

"Hermione!" Ron yelled, running up to his wife. "Did you see the new Striker Five-"

"Yes, I have, and your daughter is insistent that she needs one when she a perfectly good broom of her own-"

"Mum, it's a hand-me-down from _Teddy_!"

"Ron back me up on this!"

"If I get it for you will you let me ride it?" he asked his daughter.

"Can I take it to school?"

"Yes."

"Yes." they grinned and shook hands.

"You two are forgetting that I have the Gringots key."

"Damn."

"Don't curse, and I just got 100 galleons from the vault."

"OH YEAH!"

"Ron, if you _dare-_"

Ron paled.

"Uh, sorry kiddo, maybe next time."

"You break, _so_ easy." Rose pouted. Ron looked nervous.

"Hermione, she _has_ had the broom for quite a while now."

"Ron..." Hermione growled.

"I'm just saying, we could give the firebolt to the school for charity. You know she would take care of it. Lots of kids get new brooms when they go to hogwarts."

"Oh so because _lots of kids_ get them."

"That's not what I meant. I want to get it for her. You know that I didn't get much that wasn't hand-me-down when I was her age and- we can afford it." A little gleam of pride appeared in Ron's eyes as he said that. Hermione sighed and looked from her daughter to her husband. Then she got an idea.

"No honey. Maybe when the broom wears down a little..." Rose pouted but said nothing. She realized that she was being a little bratty. Maybe if...

"Mum, I'll save up the money, I'll, I'll do anything.. _Please_." Hermione smirked.

"We'll see sweetie..."

_The Night Before_

Rose Anora

Rose and Lydia got in bed and waited until their parents fell asleep. Then Lydia crawled out of her bed and through a small hole in the corner of her room that led to Roses room. In the winter they put a small heater there and talked in the warmth until they fell asleep. This time Lydia crawled completely through and dragged a shawl in after her. She clambered into the hammock seat right next to Roses bed, hugging one nee to her chest and leaning against the soft wooly twine, her other leg dangling near the floor.

"Rose?" she whimpered. There was a soft rustling and Rose joined Lydia in the hammock. It meant as a seat but the two girls could fit comfortably. Rose hugged her sister and Lydia put her head on Roses shoulder. "I'm scared." she whispered. Rose twisted her fingers in her sister's long dark curly hair so like her mother's. Usually she it kept up in the sticks that Tom had crafted her for her 8th birthday, she had been really close to him, but now it was hanging down around her face and shoulders.

"Don't be." Rose said. Lydia smiled.

"You always make it sound so easy." she whispered wistfully. "You're so strong. Brave." Rose let out a breathy laugh.

"I'm not the one who set a record on the pole sis."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Lydia replied in an uncharacteristically deep mood. "I can bottle it up, but I'm soft. I don't cry, but I break easy. All the time. I'm afraid to go to a _school_ Rosey. You are just totally... unphasable. Nothing frightens you, not even being blind." Her eyes were wet and she was clinging onto her sister, murmuring herself to sleep. Rose was the only person who saw this side of her, the doubtful side, the vulnerable side. "I need you. You don't know how much I need you to help me through stuff. You think you're quiet and... and you are a little, I guess, but you're still brave and you can take on anything without any help at all, because you can be independent. I'm dependent completely on you."

"I don't think you are." Rose interrupted softly. "You might like to have me there, but I think if push came to shove, you could be invincible all on you own." Lydia laughed dryly.

"Only if something happened to you." she whispered quietly, before falling asleep.

Rose Leanne Emmeline

Rose was in the guest house with Victoire and her Aunt Ginny very late at night sipping hot chocolate.

"So..." Ginny said, probing. Victoire looked gloomily into her cup.

"I want to tell him, but I don't know if he likes me back and..." she let the sentence trail

"It's doubts and fears like that that cause lost years Tori." Ginny said.

"Or longer torture." she replied bitterly.

"Just _tell him_." Rose said exasperatedly.

"Oh you're one to talk, you've never been in love!" Victoire spat.

"Exactly, so I can tell what it's like from _our_ point of view. He likes you, and you like him, and you're both just being _insufferably_ thick about because everyone can tell but you guys!"

Victoire sniffed.

"You have no idea how hard it is to imagine what he'll say if he doesn't like me." she whispered. "I'm _not_ going to do anything." she got up and left the room. Ginny and Rose exchanged a glance.

"I hate the word 'If'."

_5:00_

Rose Anora

"Rose?"

"Mmm?"

"I got you some iced coffee." A weight landed on the hammock next to her and handed Rose a chilled mug.

"Thanks." She murmured. Lydia said nothing, but sipped her tea. The two girls stayed silent for a moment in the early morning chill.

"We're going." she said. "We're really, _really_ going." She looked up at the ceiling wistfully.

"Yup."

Rose Leanne Emmeline

Rose snored softly.

_6:00 _

Rose Anora

"You all packed?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah. Mum said we were gonna shrink our bags and put them in those earrings that Gran Eldorevia made. She said well need to shape them into bubbles."

"So we're gonna have little trunks bobbling around by our ears?"

"Yup."

"Cool."

Rose Leanne Emmeline

Rose heard nothing as two silent figures entered room, leaving a long, thin package against her door-frame and then leave without a sound. She just continued to doze.

_7:00 _

Rose Anora

Rose turned to Lydia.

"Let's go kayaking."

"Thought you'd never ask. Taking Silver Lining?"

"Always."

"Let's go."

"Let's go!" They hopped up and started searching for Silver Lining, then set out for the two mile walk to the tip of the river with a kayak on their backs.

Rose Leanne Emmeline

Rose woke up but was still _very_ tired, and stayed in bed.

_8:00_

Rose Anora

The girls kayaked steadily in the river. Rose powered on ward in the front while Lydia steered in the back. People had thought when they were infants that Rose would be the one to steer, because she was very clear headed and rational, while Lydia, who was more like a loose fire cracker, would be good for being the force that made them always move.

But Rose could power them without sending them jetting into a tree, and Lydia could make the trip interesting by taking risky paths that Rose wouldn't have tried. And then they always bought Silver Lining, because-

_SPLASH!_

"AHH!"

"SILVER!!"

Sooner or later, she always tipped over the boat.

"That's always my FAVORITE part Lyd, I don't care what you say!" Rose giggled, treading water and grasping for the up-side-down kayak. Lydia spluttered water out of her mouth and shook her hair savagely.

"You are insane!" she laughed, swimming to the kayak, as it had started floating downstream.

"Hey," Rose laughed. The tip always gave her an adrenaline high. "Where's Silver Linin'?" A muffled bark sounded from in side the kayak. The girls made eye contact and then exploded into laughter.

Rose Leanne Emmeline

Rose had fallen back asleep.

_9:00 _

Rose Anora

Wet and dripping, the girls made it back home. Eve was waiting in the door frame over a steaming cauldron that smelled like lavender, tapping her foot.

"You girls _know_ you're supposed to write a letter or something whenever you leave before sunrise." she said sternly.

"We left after sunrise!" Lydia said defiantly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Their mother said unconvincingly, raising her hands in surrender.

"We did!" Lydia laughed.

"What ever you say..."

"We _did_!"

"Oh Rose, I've got your potion ready for tomorrow, and I've arranged with the potions master that she'll make it for you while you're at school kay?"

"Alright mum." Rose said. She didn't really care, she could make the potion in her sleep and she only had to take it once a month.

"Mum," Lydia said. "I'll bet you anything that the potions master can't make it any where near as well as even _I_ could. As the whole _village_ could, we've all made it at least 20 times before and they'll have just gotten the recipe! Why can't Rose and I make it?" Eve chuckled.

"Don't get cocky love,"

"I'm _not_ cocky, I'm afraid for Rose! What if they make it wrong?" Lydia fretted. Eve smiled and bent down, rubbing the back of her head.

"They, the school people, are pretty much thinking along the same lines. They... don't think you'll be able to brew the potion, because it's pretty exact and complicated. It's foolish on their part, I know, but don't worry about a thing, if push comes to shove, I'll owl her the potion and it'll be there in a jiff. Other than that, I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do sweetie." she pat her on the back.

"Don't worry Lyd, I'll be _fine_." Rose said with a grin.

Rose Leanne Emmeline

Hermione tapped her foot to the rhythm of one of her favorite songs on the radio as she flipped crepes with Fleur and Audrey.

"I can't believe Rosey and Al are already gong to hogwarts!" Audrey squealed. Fleur rolled her eyes.

"I know." Hermione said, sending a sharp glare at Fleur. Fleur found Audrey rather stupid, and, like many of her other in-laws, though that Percy had married her for her looks, though she voiced it a little more publicly, and some of them had started defending Audrey vehemently like she was their little sister. She _was_ the youngest of all of them, even Luna and Ginny. "Speaking of which, has anyone seen Rose?" The other two women shook their heads.

"You know kids." Ginny said, entering the kitchen and grabbing an apple and a copy of the Prophet. "Always sleeping. Hope she packed her trunk." As she left the room a look of horror passed Hermione's face.

_10:00 _

Rose Anora

"Hey mum, do we have any shire bush sap? I'm craving some flapjacks for brunch."

"Um... Yes! Here." she tossed a jar of watery orange liquid from the cabinets over at Lydia. "Just got it this morning." Eve said. "Nice and fresh." Lydia caught the jar.

"Sweet." She scooped it into a bowl and mixed it with a flour-like substance that was grinded Pooshque beans and some cream, then sprinkling in a little salt. There were many magical and nutrient rich plants in the forest that had made their way into the Common Cuisine Ingredients List (or the CCIL).

Eve tossed a little jar over her shoulder.

"Wanna add some powdered Haloa root to that?" Rose walked into the room and caught the jar.

"Oo, making flapjacks?" she said, sprinkling some of the light brown powder into the bowl.

"Ya-huh." Lydia said distractedly, mixing it all together. Rose smirked headed to their stove. A small Fire Gremlin flame was always going under a stone tablet and there was a foot pump used used to make it larger, so Rose began to pump. In a few minutes both girls were chomping down on a pile of thick rich flapjacks.

"I love these." Rose said blissfully. "I wonder what foods they have at the castle." Eve blushed suddenly.

"Just be careful you don't eat any meat." she said cautiously. Lydia tensed. A look of resentment passed over her suddenly and Rose and Eve immediately started comforting her.

"I'm sure that they'll be plenty of other foods-"

"Oh yes, meat isn't even that good for you, they don't have _too_ much of it- kinda-"

"And they'll be lots of non-meat stuff too, like those things that Emtu's wife made-"

"And Bailey, Bailey makes great, what was it that she makes?"

"Um... grits casserole!"

"Yeah! Grits casserole!" Lydia let out a breathy laugh.

"It's alright guys. I'll be good. What time the train leave?"

"Oh about an hour. We're apparating to the station. Ironically, it's in the opposite direction than the castle, but it will get you there faster."

"Cool. What's a castle?"

Rose Leanne Emmeline

"Come_ on_!" Rose hopped out of the shower frantically and threw on a tan halter dress that was way to dressy for going to the train station, but she really didn't care. She was unpacked and hungry and had to leave in ten minutes if she was to make it to the station on time. She frantically shot around her room looking for the the crisp bags with their purchases in diagon alley. She was pretty sure she had got everything. She swept the room to double check... her eyes landed on something in her doorframe.

Down stairs, Hermione heard her daughter's frightening screech. A loud rumble was heard, and then a bushy mass of red hair bolted into the kitchen's and attacked her.

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" it screamed. Hermione laughed and pat her daughter's back.

"No problem, now get some breakfast into yourself, we have a long way to go."

"I own a _STRIKER!_" Rose squealed. "I've got a new _broom_. Oh you are the best mum _ever_."

"Alright sweetie, but it's the worlds best mum here telling you to _eat_."

_11:00 _

Rose Anora

Rose moaned softly on the floor of a compartment. Having never been on a train before, she had no idea how to handle the fact that something was staying still, but it seemed to be moving (aka: the ground), and that the something she was on was moving (rocketing), but seemed to be staying still (aka: the train) and it was moving _on_ the thing that was staying still, but didn't seem to be. Lydia nearly had a panic attack when Rose started hyperventilating and falling to the ground, and pulled her into the nearest compartment.

"Is she gonna be okay?"

The girl who had spoken was in the corner and a set of orange-sized wooden balls lay discarded beside her. She had long black-brown hair and was charmingly plump, with a darker set skin tone. She had on a twirling peasant skirt and a floaty scarf, and seemed very foreign, and slightly older than them. In fact, all the girls and one boy in the compartment seemed older, but Lydia barely noticed they were there. Rose's chest heaved up and down in shaky breaths.

"Bubbling..." she gasped. "My range... to the... train... Got it!" she burst upright. "So so so sorry about that! I have this thing and it's well, it's kinda complicated and I just, yeah. You see I didn't know how to- But I'm fine now!" she exclaimed happily. The girl who had spoken cocked her head.

"Huh?"

Rose sighed.

"I'm blind. I've got a potion that helps me see by sending out a kind of wave that gives me vision to everything touching what I've just touched, and I've never been on transportation like this, or on something this fast, and it was really weird, and really scary, and really over whelming, but I've contained my fake sight to only the train, and now I'm fine." She said irritably. The girl stared at her for a moment.

"Oh is that all?" she said. Another girl looked at them concernedly.

"Do want to stay here, or do you know anybody? By now all the compartment's will be full." she said. "Oh, I'm Cammi, by the way. And this is Jean-" she thumbed a tall pale blond girl in glasses over her shoulder. "That's Esperanza-" she nodded at the girl who first spoke. "And Jammy-"

"It's _Djah_-_mee._" said a bony, wide smiled, blue-eyed girl wearing large hoop earrings and dark brown hair in a sleek ponytail. "Jami. Short for _Jamique_." she said. Cami crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, pointing at Jami.

"Whatever. And this is Colin." she gestured a broad handsome guy with thick, dark, curly hair and a dazzling hazel eyes. "And Akoko." she moved to the last girl. She was small and delicate with a broad purple lip-sticked grin and sparkling eyes. Two tiny diamond studs glinted in her ears and she had a small mass of thick frizzy blue-black hair tied back with a yellow wrap.

Rose nodded at all of them, then started tapping her finger rapidly on the floor to beacon out her vision and find someone they knew. No one noticed but Lydia.

"Alright, cool. Do you mind if we hang out here for a while? We don't really know anybody else I don't think."

"We know T-" Lydia slammed her hand over her sister's mouth, and you could tell she was laughing because of the dimples lighting up her face, even though her eyes were empty. Most of the compartment gasped, as they had never really noticed her eyes up until that point.

"You really are blind." Akoko whispered.

"No, she just says it for a laugh." Lydia snapped. Rose's dimples faded and she smacked her sister upside the head. "Ow!" Rose muffled something. "What?" Rose ripped her hand off.

"I said 'Be kind.' " she said. "And anyways, I think I found someone else we know!"

"Who?" Lydia said, puzzled.

"That Scorpius guy!" A few people in the compartment laughed.

"Scorpius _Malfoy_?" Esperanza snickered. She had started juggling the wooden balls subconsciously, and they slung from one hand to the other in a giant circle, all seven of them.

"Yes." Lydia said defensively, tensing up. "You know him?"

"Do we? Of course we do, his birth was all over the news. The Malfoys are _Death Eaters_, don't you know that?" Jami said. The girls stared blankly.

"They think anyone who's got muggle ancestry shouldn't be able to go to hogwarts, or anyone who's not completely a wizard. Didn't you hear about the war, Voldemort and Harry Potter?" Jean asked them.

"A little bit." Rose said sheepishly. "Harry Potter is famous for defeating him something like 7 times, yeah? Sorry, we grew up in a forest, we don't know much about current events except for what we hear our parents friends talk about when we visit them."

"A _forest_? No kidding?" Colin said. Lydia nodded.

"But we were talking to Scorpius in Madame Malkins, he's nice."

"If he thinks you have pure blood." Jami said bitterly.

"_How_ do you know that? All you've been talking about are his family!" Lydia said frustratedly.

"You kinda loose hope for a nice Malfoy after his last cousin comes in and calls you a filthy oreo like all the cousins previous. And he's got _five _cousins." Akoko said bitterly. Rose gasped.

"An _oreo_?" she said, tearing up. They had eaten oreo's at Sylvia's house and knew what they were. Respect was a dominant quality in the forest and to say something so blatantly rude _beyond_ shocked her. "That's horrible."

"But it's still not about Scorpius." Lydia said firmly. "What do you actually _know_ about _him_?" she asked challengingly. There was silence. "I thought so. Come on Rose." Rose looked over her shoulder as Lydia dragged her out.

"Lyd..." she said. Lydia did not look back.

"I'm sorry." Rose mouthed, then the compartment door closed and they were gone. A few minutes later, a loud _BOOM_ startled the whole train and everyone looked outside their compartments.

Rose Leanne Emmeline

"I _knew _it!" Rose taunted.

"I know you did." said the older blond, a trace of underlying giddiness evident in her voice.

"And was I right or was I _right_?!"

"The second one." said the blond boredly.

"That didn't look like 'nothing' to me!"

"No, I suppose not."

Maria was watching the exchange with an amused smirk, her short blond hair straightened and cut to perfection so her long bangs didn't move from being swept dramatically across her face when she sat down in the compartment.

"You know, most first years don't sit in a compartment with two seventh years and don't not even pester them with questions about hogwarts Miss Bushy Head."

"Most seventh years don't get together with a guy they pined for who was two years older than them by snogging them as the train leaves."

"Touche."

"That's french."

"I had no idea." Victoire said smiling. The train began to roll. "I'm dating him." she said dreamily. "I'm dating Teddy Remus Lupin." Maria rolled her eyes and took a crinkling package of candy out of her clutch purse. She _loved_ muggle sweets and many adults got very sad when she told them that, murmuring something about Dumbledore, which she found very out of place. She popped a swedish fish into her mouth and looked at Rose curiously while she chewed.

"What's up with the dress?" she asked. Rose snapped her attention to the girl.

"Oh. This. I think I'll change into my robes early or something. I kinda woke up late." Maria continued to look at the dress.

"Don't, you look hot in that."

"Huh?" Rose said. Maria's eye's widened, as did Victoire's. If they hadn't done that, Rose probably would have believed nothing was up, but...

"Maria?" she said tentatively. "Are you...?" Maria hung her head.

"Don't tell my dad. I haven't been able to publicly date anyone because, you know, he would find out." she whispered. Victoire was eyeing Rose carefully for a reaction.

"So, are you gonna ask me out or something?" she asked cheekily. Victoire sighed in relief and Maria grinned.

"Not on your _life_. I might go for girls, but I don't go for shrimps, Firstie." Rose pretended to be upset.

"I'm am _not_ a shrimp. I'm just younger." It was a pretty well known fact that Rose handled her shock very well. It hit her for a brief moment and then disappeared. Maria was a lesbian. She hadn't seen that coming, but she wouldn't treat her any different.

"So are you dating anybody right now?" Rose asked. Maria closed her eyes. "You are!" She nodded. "Who?" Maria bit her lip. "Is it someone I know?" Their silence made Rose's eyebrows jolt up. "Seriously? Who?" Maria flushed with embarrassment as Rose tried to think of a girl she knew Maria would date. But she didn't get to figure it out, because right at that moment, a loud _BOOM_ startled the girls and they all bolted out to see what the commotion was about.

**Just so you know, I took **_**forever**_** writing this chapter, and it was really fun to set up. Originally the next chapter was going to be them arriving at hogwarts, but, well, I don't think so. It might be a bit shorter though.**

**-Mary**

**P.S. Oh hey, if you don't mind, Since "Rose" isn't an option, this story isn't very easily found or noticed, so help me and spread the word or something eh? I only have like, 50 views. Thanks! :)**


	5. Of a Cursed Cousin and New Nicknames

Rose Anora

Lydia's anger lasted less than 5 seconds when she left that compartment at the sight before her. There was Tom, the widow's son from the village and the boy who tried to beat Lydia's record on the pole, looking murderous, wand in hand, aiming it directly at a bleach-blond teenage girl with huge boobs and a face contorted with cruel laughter. She too had her wand out and it was pointed at a girl about the same age as Tom writhing on the floor, her mouth screaming, but no sound left it. The door to a compartment near them was wide open, and a hushed symphony of giggling emitted from it.

Rose felt agony and immense pain slashing violently into her head from the girl on the ground, hysterical anger building from Tom and faintly felt a familiar figure in the open compartment. But the girls pain was so great that Rose became consumed in it and her knees almost buckled as she groaned and bought a hand to her head, leaning against the wall.

"Help her..." she muttered, and Lydia, who had barely had a second to intake the scene before them, turned horrified to see her sister.

Before they could do anything, the pale figure that was Scorpius wrestled his way out of the open compartment door and made to snatch the blonde's wand. But as he did, Tom snapped his wand at her and cried "_Planta Ventus!"_

He had waved his wand so fast that his shout mingled with the blast, which seemed to rattle the whole train. Rose was shot backwards by the force of it, as was everyone else. Her ears seemed to bubble and her back hit the end of the compartment hard, but the agonizing pain from the writhing girl had dissipated. Everyone had ether lost consciousness or was loosing it fast.

For her part, it had all happened so fast, mere moments had elapsed since Lydia had dragged her from the compartment, and she was in shock. She tried to gather her priorities together. Was everyone okay?

"Lyd?" she murmured faintly. She groped in the dark for her sister's mind which usually was so defined, shining brightest of everyone else's, even in the crowds of Diagon Alley or the platform. Now she could only feel the confident presence of a few people who had taken control and were ushering everyone to back to their compartments. Some of them seemed familiar. Their voices seemed so distant. Tom must have been right angry to make a spell that powerful. Rose wondered who on earth the writhing girl could be.

She felt strong arms grasp her figure and lift her up, hugging her to their owner like a baby. She tried to search their mind to figure out who they were, they seemed familiar...

But she was too weak, she felt her consciousness ebbing away... all the minds were becoming dimmer and she couldn't tell where she was being taken, everything was blurry...

Rose Leanne Emmeline

Rose stuck her head out of her compartment door and saw six unconscious bodies littering the corridor. As she walked out to make room for Victoire and Maria, she noticed that the ones closest to them were two first year girls that she had seen coming on the train.

"MOLLY!" Victoire cried. Rose turned around and was horrified to see their cousin sprawled on the ground, pin-straight coppery hair fanned out wildly behind her, sweat glistening on her face.

"Oh my god." Rose turned her voice and saw Jami Longbottom running over to the first years.

"Okay, scedaddle!" A voice said loudly. Rose turned around to see Jami's friend Ezperanza clutching her juggling balls threateningly, glaring at all the other people who had crowded around their compartment doors to see what was going on. Colin, another close family friend, and all his friends had gotten out of their and Jami's compartment and were taking control. Colin headed over to two the unconscious 1st years and scooped one into his large arms while Jami and Akoko lifted the other one's arms over their shoulders. Rose knew all of them fairly well because Colin and Jami had bought them to the guest house one summer.

"Yeah that's right, and don't even think about listening at the doors." Ezperanza snapped, walking over to where all all of them .

"We need a place to get all of them together and figure out what the hell happened." Colin said solemnly, wiping the girl's forehead with his large hand.

"Shh!" Cami giggled and Rose groaned, mouthing the next she words she spoke with her. "Don't curse in front of Rose, she's just a first year!" Colin glanced at Rose frustratedly, jerking his eyes towards Cami. Neither of them liked her very much, but everyone else did, so they put up with her. Rose nodded at him gravely.

"We need to find a teacher, they have bigger compartments yeah? And isn't there a spell that makes people conscious? _Renervate _I think? Aunt Ginny used it on James once." Jami said. Even though Ginny wasn't really her aunt, every knew of Aunt Ginny as just that. Except well, her kids.

"Good idea." Victoire muttered, pointing her wand at Molly. "_Renervate._" Molly shuddered and opened her eyes faintly. They were a brilliant smoky blue violet she got from her mother. Rose often thought her cousin looked like a fantasy girl, much like her mother. Her hair was long, pin straight and coppery brown, her skin smooth and pearly white, paler than usual right now, she had dramatic rosy lips and long clacking nails enchanted to be the exact shade of a starry night sky.

"Are you alright Mol?" Jami said worriedly. Molly's eyes glinted in Jami's direction and moaned "Bloody fantastic." Then she closed them again and let out a deep breath.

"What happened to you?" Cami asked as though Molly was completing a survey. But Molly did not answer.

"Molly?!" Victoire whispered, pointing her wand at her again. "_Rener_-"

"No." Maria said suddenly. "If magical creatures are anything like people, if someone goes unconscious right after you've bought them back, then there's been some serious damage, like a curse, and renervating her again will make things a lot worse. I think we should try someone else." she finished firmly. No one objected. Maria had taken an internship over the summer, training to become a magical creature's healer. "How about one of the girls? They were farther away from Molly." Jean shook her head sadly.

"They had just left our compartment, would have only had about two seconds to see what was happening before the blast. Hey- is that the new Malfoy?" she said, gesturing Scorpius.

"Scorpius." Rose murmured, remembering what her dad said. "And that's his cousin right?" she added, pointing to the blonde. Everyone nodded with a shudder. "Who's he?" she pointed at muscular boy with thick brown hair of about 13.

"Oh." Akoko said nervously. "That's Tom. No one knows much about him. He's not really, uh, nice." Ezperanza scoffed.

"He's damn broody is what he is." she said. "I think Scorpius is our best bet. She-" She indicated one one the first years with dark curly hair. "Was trying tell us how nice he was. We were- ah- skeptical. That's why they left." Maria nodded gently.

"Okay. _Renervate_." she said, jerking her wand towards the blonde boy, who gasped and sat bolt upright.

"Bonnie!" he said loudly, then looked at the students gathered around and ran a hand through his hair confusedly. "Woah. What happened?"

"That's what _we'd_ like to know." Cami said slightly accusingly. "All of you were found unconscious in the corridor right after a large explosion rattled the train. My friend's cousin appears severely damages by a curse. Do you know why?!" she rounded on him suddenly, causing him to jolt back. When he spoke, his voice was shaky and bitter, and Rose felt very sympathetic for him.

"M-My cousin, Bonnie, was bragging about how she had learned a knew curse from my granddad, and she dec-cided it would be a b-brilliant idea to try it out on the next muggle-born or-or blood-traitor that walked by, and it w-was- was- h-her." He pointed to Molly, and his breath caught briefly in his throat. "S-she was alone, and Bonnie called out to her, and had her come back. Then she did- she did crucio." He whispered the last word and looked down while most of them gasped, and Victoire looked mutinous. Rose was shocked. Hogwarts was a safe place, and the fact that a student would would cast an unforgivable curse was just... unfathomable.

When Scorpius continued, his voice was emotionless. "They cast silencio so no one could hear her scream, but she didn't at first. Then_ he_ came out-" he pointed to Tom. "And hardly said anything. He ran up to her and saw Bonnie, took out his wand and said 'Take it off.' and Bonnie just laughed." he finished bitterly. "Then she started to scream, and Bonnie kept laughing, and he- Tom, I think- looked... frightening. He shouted a spell I didn't recognize I got thrown back against the wall so hard I must have fainted." As if to prove his point, his hand wandered to the back of his head, where he immediately hissed in pain. "Bruise." he muttered.

There was a brief silence.

"I'll help you with that." Maria said, walking around and gently placing a hand on his shoulder from behind, steadied her wand and said "_Generiesse_." Then she stood up.

"I think Rose was onto something, the prefects compartment should be empty by now. We can use that. I think it'll be nicer to wake up the others in there and not on the floor in a corridor." With that, she flicked her wand at Tom and said, "_Mobilicorpus_."

As the others followed suit on the rest of the bodies, Scorpius whimpered something inaudible, but Rose caught the gist.

"What about the rest of his cousins?" she asked. "What Bonnie did was illegal wasn't it? Doesn't that make the rest of them accomplices?" Before anyone could answer Scorpius whimpered loudly.

"_Lydia?!_" he gasped disbelievingly, staring at the levitating body of the first year girl with dark curly hair.

"She er- she and Rose left our compartment a few moments before the explosion." Ezperanza muttered.

"Oh." They walked in tense silence until they got to the prefects compartment, which was empty as predicted. They all started to file in when Akoko remembered they hadn't gotten Scorpius's cousins. Ezperanza and Jean volunteered to go help her get them and they left, and a quick mutter of "_Renervate_." echoed through the room. Only Molly and Bonnie were left unconsious. Roses eyes landed on the other first year girl. She had a pretty face and wild, bushy blond hair with an occasional small braid strained through it. She had an odd air about her. Unlike most people, Rose enjoyed people that gave her odd feelings, she wanted to get to know them, and this girl had peaked her interest. Rose was what her mother called "naturally nosy".

The girls chest lifted upwards sharply as the spell hit her and her hand jumped to the cushiony back of the seat they laid her on. She looked sick for a moment, like she was a weak soul who had been on a particularly vicious roller coaster, then slid off the seat and steadied herself like she was on a boat. Subconsiously she lifted a hand to her forehead and moaned in annoyance.

"Ugh. Lyd?" she said. Rose stepped forward.

"You might want to sit down. We'll figure out what happened in a sec. For now, have some chocolate." she said, grabbing a huge block from her bag and broke off a large piece.

"Chocolate?" the girl said dizzily, reaching out her hand to take it. "What do you do with it?"

"Jeez Rose, you carry a giant chunk of chocolate around in your pockets?" Cami scoffed, stroking Lydia like she was her pet. Rose and Lydia bristled.

"You eat it." Colin said kindly to the blond.

"Yes. It comes in handy after a trauma." Rose said hotly. Cami laughed derisively.

"How often do you actually experience trauma?" she chortled. Rose broke off a piece of chocolate and handed it to Lydia, who shot a quick disgusted look at Cami and broke away to get the chocolate and walk towards the other first year. Rose gave her a sympathetic smile and handed a piece to Tom, who was white-faced and shaky.

"'_Actually?_'"Rose laughed mockingly. She looked thoughtfully at Scorpius and then gave him some chocolate too. He nodded briskly as he took it, then looked anxiously at the girls, who were talking in hushed voices, as though he weren't sure whether or not he could join them.

"Rosie?" Rose turned around and saw Colin, Jami, Cami and Maria behind her. "We're gonna go out and find some teachers, see if there's a healer, stuff like that. Can you and Tori hold the fort until we get back?" Jami said. Rose felt Scorpius's eyes on her now, prickling the back of her neck.

"Yeah, 'course. Take your time." she said. Colin grinned and they left, the door clicking shut behind them. Rose sighed and turned to face the three people who would soon become her classmates.

Rose Anora

"Are you alright?" she whispered to her sister. Lydia nodded solemnly.

"Yeah," she replied, biting some of the chocolate. " my head feels like it was split open by a blunt chunk of steel, but I'm fine. You?"

"Yeah. This chocolate stuff helps." Rose answered, sucking on the tip of her chunk. Lydia smiled.

"Hey, are they leaving?" Rose said suddenly. Lydia looked up to see Colin, Jami, Cami and Some older blond they didn't know talking to the bushy haired red-head who gave them chocolate. "Who's she?"

"Are you an occlumens or not Rosie?!" Lydia hissed. Rose shook her head.

"I don't like meeting people that way." she whispered back.

"Oh, they're leaving!" Lydia whined. The redhead turned to look at all of them and seemed to command all the presence in the compartment.

"Hi." she said warmly. "I'm Rose Weasley. This is my older cousin, Tori, and Jami and Colin are close family friends, so we're helping them sort all this out while they go get some _experienced adults_." she emphasized the words with a funny look on her face. "What are your names?"

"Tom." Tom grumbled, and Rose Weasley looked at him as though she had never heard anything so interesting. All the attention in her huge brown eyes was focused on him.

"Lydia." Lydia said with a slightly aggressive tone, and Rose Weasley turned her eyes onto her with the same raptly attentive, absorbing fascination in her eyes. Ros realized it was her turn to speak.

"Rose." Rose Weasley's eyes shone brighter than ever.

"Like me!" she said excitedly. "I'm Rose too, Rose Weasley."

"We heard." Tom said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Oh whenever we're together it's gonna be so complicated because we have the same name. We can't call each by last names because Weasley is about as common a name at Hogwarts as- as- ... well, I've never been good at simile's."

"You mean analogies?" Rose supplied, amused by Rose Weasley's unwavering interest and enthusiasm.

"Oh yes, those."

"And we're sisters, so we have the same last name as well." Lydia said. Rose's eyes locked back to Lydia.

"Oh! Are you two twins? You look nothing alike, I'd've never guessed. Did you know Jami is a _quint_? Austin, Jami, Charlotte, Penny and Chad Longbottom. And she has triplet older siblings, Emma, Gabrielle and Jeremy. Then Alice. Then Maria. She left to get Scorpius's cousin's, you'll get to see her soon, and then Frank, but Frank's graduated. Last year. So are you twins?"

"Yes." Rose laughed in answer.

"Do you know what happened?" Lydia interjected with a rushed intensity, fearful she wouldn't get in a word before Rose started talking again. Rose Weasley nodded enthusiastically.

"Do you want to tell them?" she asked Scorpius, who looked taken aback at being spoken too so casually, without any kind of reserve or difference than she spoke to everyone else. He shook his head.

"This is Bonnie, Scorpius's bitchy cousin," she said, pointing at the unconscious body of Bonnie, strewn unceremonious on one of the corner benches. "who decided to show off the torture curse-"

"The what?" Lydia interrupted.

"The unforgivable curse, Cruciatus? It causes you unbearable pain and agony. And it's illegal. And she thought it would a great idea to try it out on the next muggle born or blood-traitor to walk by, who happened to be my cousin, Molly." Roses eyes got moist with angry tears as she gestured to her cousin, laid with more care of the opposite bench. "And she was strong enough not to yell and scream. Then you came out-" she pointed to Tom. "and defended her. Planta Ventus, right?" Tom nodded.

"But why?" Scorpius piped up. "You looked really angry. How do you know her?" It was hard to tell which boy was more startled by his asking that question.

"She's my girlfriends best mate." he said gruffly.

"You have a _girlfriend_?" Lydia asked incredulously. Tom nodded.

"Dani." he grunted uncomfortably. Rose grinned. Lydia always got under Tom's skin about stuff like this, even if they weren't exactly friends. Or acquaintances. Or anything actually, they didn't really like each other. They were more... friendly rivals since childhood.

"You never talk about her." Lydia said accusingly. "What's she like? How long have you been going out? Which house is she in? Have you kissed? Have you gone out with other girls? Has she gone out with other guys? Does she wear perfume on your dates. Does she wear make-up everyday like all those trampy people on my Uncle Claude's shows? Is she even in your year? How-"

"My goddess Lydia grill me why don't you?!" Tom exclaimed. Lydia shut up. "Why do you care anyways?"

"You two know each other?" Rose Weasley interjected. Rose nodded.

"We live in the same village." The two girls exchanged a grin as Victoire tried to break up the row Lydia and Tom had started.

"All summer and you never thought to mention-"

"I was busy!"

"I see you everyday! I know we're not best mates or anything-"

"That's right! We're not!"

"Okay you two. Shut up. Right now."

"I'm not a Filmering Bickback or anything, you can't tell me what to do!"

"A _what_?!"

"It's none of your business Lyd!"

"Does your Mom know?!"

"Yes!"

"SO I can write her a letter when we get to hogwarts?"

...

"Maybe."

"AHA, don't you lie to me Tom Malkin!"

"They're pretty fun to watch aren't they?" Rose whispered to Scorpius and Rose Weasley. The three grinned.

"Hey, Rose?" Scorpius said.

"Yes?" both girls replied.

"Ugh. You know," he said to them, leaning in so he could be heard over the rowing. " you two should come up with nicknames, so we can tell you apart and both of you won't always be turning your heads." Rose Weasley looked excited.

"Sounds like a good idea. What's your middle name Rose?"

"Anora."

"Leanne Emmeline. But I don't wan to be called _that_. Maybe I could take part of it. Like EmmeRose, or AnnRose or-"

"LeaRose?" Scorpius tried. Rose's eyes turned for the first time on him, bright and grinning.

"_LeaRose_." she said wistfully. "Sounds good. How abut you Rose? Anora? Nora? Rose Anora? NoraRose?" Rose thought for moment.

"I like that." she finally said, biting her lower lip in a smile. "NoraRose." At that moment, Lydia and Tom quit yelling, and the word echoed through the compartment.

"What's that?" Lydia asked.

"Our new nicknames!" LeaRose exclaimed. "I'm _Lea_Rose now." Just then there was a knock on the compartment door.

"Well _LeaRose_, mind letting us in?" called a familiar voice. A different but still familiar one rang next.

"Cause we got us some accomplices in crime!"

**So I've done and redone this chapter a million times because I just couldn't get it to flow right. I'm not as happy with it as I could possibly be but now I can actually get these kids to the school and sorted! Any confusing loose ends about the Weasley family and who the heck Colin is will hopefully be answered in the next chapter, which i hope will be up quicker than this one.**

**REVIEW PLEASE! MAKE MY DAY!**

**-Mary**


	6. Of many new people and Albus Potter!

**I'm Back! And I'm so happy that this story is starting to get around. I've actually written a lot more to this chapter but it severely needs to be fine tuned. You'll notice that I've changed the PoV in this chapter to 1st person. I think i like it better and I'll keep up with that. Let me know what you think.**

_LeaRose_

Soon after Jean, Akoko and Ezperanza got back with Scorpius's unconscious and bound/gagged cousins, the others came back with a frail, flustered looking professor, two girls no one knew, and a healer, who had happened to be taking the train to get to Hogsmead.

"Let me through! Let me through!" he bustled forward and put his hand to Molly's forehead, then drew a small vile from an inside pocket in his robes filled with a slushy, sparkling pale orange liquid. The Healer dipped it into Molly's mouth and we all waited with baited breath. Then, slowly, her eyes fluttered open. One of the girls, who had been hovering as near as the healer would let her, rushed over and threw her arms around her.

"Mol!" she exclaimed. The other girl was nervously twisting her spiky wiry brown hair around her fingers, shooting twittery glances between Molly and Tom.

"Is she alright?" the nervous girl asked.

"She'll be fine." the healer replied stiffly, shaking his head. "The cruciatus curse. On the hogwarts express! I remember when I was a boy, you'd've never heard the like..."

"Yeah, it ain't like there was no _war_ or anything going on when you was a kid." hissed Molly's friend. The healer was taken a back and looked about ready to retort, but Tori stood up just then, and his eyes locked onto her.

"I can't thank you enough sir, for bringing back my cousin," she began, and the Healer nodded with a glassy face "would you like me take you back to your compartment?" she asked politely. Beginning to drool, the healer allowed himself to be guided from the compartment by Tori, who was uncharacteristically swaying her hips as she walked, the effect not at all diminished by her scabby knees peeking through ripped and baggy jeans. Just as the door closed she sent a harsh glare at us over her shoulder which clearly read 'You Owe Me.'

"The _cruciatus curse_ was preformed on this child?" the Professor asked with a slight note of shock in his would-be-passive voice. Everyone nodded solemnly and glared at the unconscious bodies of all Scorpius's cousins. The Professor, quick on the mark, glanced at the bodies and his eyes widened.

"_All_ of them?"

The glares specified Bonnie in response.

"But the rest of them _laughed_." Cami said with transparent false anger in her voice. At least, it was transparent to Colin, Scorpius, Lydia and me. The Professor cleared his throat.

"Well, as Healer Serbian too rightly pointed out, this is a shocking and disturbing thing to happen. I'l need to call in the Aurors, we'll need to discover where she possibly learned this curse from, and-"

"My Grand-dad." Scorpius spat. "Lucius Malfoy. You won't be getting anything from him." The professor looked uncomfortable.

"A- and we'll need to figure out what to do with the bodies in the meantime. These children are all underage except for Miss Bonita Rosier am I right? We can't imprison them, but we may be able to expel them. Tolerating this behavior is despicable and disgraceful to the school. I'll have to wait until the train pulls in to contact the Auror department so we'll need to-"

"Are you daft?! " Jami and Colin cried at almost the same time before getting up and racing out the door, leaving nearly everyone behind in shocked silence.

"You _do_ know where they're going right?" I asked.

"I do." Maria shrugged.

"Well would you care to enlighten us?" Cami asked, rather snidely.

"They went to go get their mirrors to call Uncle Harry. Duh." I grinned. While Cami could get away with snide comments because she claimed it was her nature, I had always been able to get away with cheeky comments and pass it off because I was cute and little and always had half a faceful of fluffy red bangs in my face, covering one of my eyes and leaving the other one wide and innocent. It itches like hell sometimes, but it's worth it. Cami scowled at me, and my mouth twitched up wards. Whoops.

"Mirrors?" NoraRose asked curiously.

"Yeah. We're all close family friends, us Weasley's, Potter's and Longbottoms'. And Brocklehurst's, in Colin's case." I added thoughtfully. "And the family, in_ this_ case, includes Harry Potter. He's my uncle, and the Longbottoms and Collin practically live with us anyways at our common guest house like ...wow, like everybody remotely included in my life." I'd never thought of that before. Anyways... "So we have him in our mirrors."

"You've got a _person_ contained in a mirror?" Lydia said, eyes wide in shock. My brow furrowed.

"They grew up in a forest." Colin said. Then he looked at the girls. "We're talking about a different type of mirror. It's enchanted so that if you say someone's name into it, it'll show you what you would see from _their_ mirror, does that make sense?"

"But couldn't some random person call someone famous, like LeaRose's Uncle Harry, so his mirror would be like open access into a the life of a hero or something?" Lydia replied.

"That's the thing," Maria said. "You have to add peoples names into your mirror for them to be able to see through to you. The mirrors can be hooked up to be able to call places like the ministry before you buy them, but most people don't do that because then the ministry can call in and see what you're doing whenever they want, and you won't know, because the mirror doesn't have any way of showing that someone's called you. Well, it vibrates. But you wouldn't feel that if you'd left it on a table or in your bag. Nearly everyone has a mirror now, they got really popular after the war when Weasley's Wizard Wheeze's started them."

"What's-" Lydia began.

"My dad and Uncle George's shop. They used to only be a joke shop, and then they opened a Stealth Section, which just totally hit off their business, bringing in customer's you'd never expect to be found dead inside a Joke Shop cause the section had things _like_ the mirrors. It was hilarious to see how scared some of those people were to come in." I giggled. All tough and menacing ministry workers looking like the pygmy puffs were about to hop out and bite their heads off.

"And that why the mirror's don't have a ringer or anything to tell you when someone calls, because then it wouldn't be very stealthy would it?" Maria added with a grin. "Of course, you can add one, but it wouldn't be very smart. So far the only sound they can get is from a caterwauling charm."

All of the sudden, a silvery stag appeared from nowhere, a man's angry and shaking voice rang from it.

"_Don't worry, let Professor Wilkens handle it. DO NOT wake up the Rosiers, we're waiting to pick them up when the train pulls in."_ Then it dissipated into nothing. This time it wasn't only Lydia and NoraRose who were shocked.

"What the _hell_ was that?!" Ezperanza shrieked.

"Just a patronus from Uncle Harry." Molly, said, waving it off. "Well, it looks like we're all free to go except you Professor Wilkens."

"We should ah- probably wait for Tori to get back though." Maria grinned.

"Hey, what about us?" Colin said, running back into the compartment, closely followed by Jami hanging onto his arm.

"Tori's right behind us and-" she started.

"That bastard tried feeling me up!" Tori snarled as she stormed into the now very crowded compartment. "I hate being part Veela." she tried to sit down, but all the seats were taken, so she settled for standing with her arms folded sulkily.

"Ah- you all should listen to Mister Potter and let me handle this. You are all excused and can return to your compartments now." Professor Wilkens said awkwardly. It really was crowded now, what with me, Ezperanza, Jean, Akoko, Jami, Colin, Cami, NoraRose, Tori, Maria, Tom, Molly, Molly's Friend with Bad Grammar, Molly's Friend Who Sends Nervous Glances, Bonnie, Bonnie's four sister's, and Professor Wilkens all crammed into the prefects compartment, it was definitely time for some of us to get packing.

"Okay. Let's head back then." Cami said awkwardly. All her friends nodded and filed out. Molly got up shakily and her two friends left. Lydia glared hard at Tom as he left with them and I suddenly had a little light-bulb moment, and made a note to mention it to-

Tori and Maria were in the doorway, waiting for me, but I looked back at NoraRose, Lydia and Scorpius. This was one of those Moment's. I _could_ go with Tori and Maria, people I know and love, or I could stay with the new intriguing people next to me and make a stab at friendship.

"I-I'll see you later Tori." I told her, not completely sure what i was doing yet, but sticking to it. And of course she grinned and nodded like only she would, turning around to leave. "And Maria!" I called, "Don't think I've forgotten!" Maria blushed furiously and left with Tori.

"See ya Rosey."

"Alright," I clapped my hands, turning to the trio of first years. "Let's go find a compartment shall we?"

_NoraRose _

"Oh!-" LeaRose said, "I think I know where my cousin Al is, you want to try and get a place there?" There were three mute nods. We were a group of sorts, separate from from LeaRose, who had latched onto us. But it was okay. She was confident, and we needed someone to guide us around for a moment. At least, that's how I feel. I wonder what Lydia was thinking.

_... 's okay. Kinda wish she wasn''t here ...Just me, Scorpius and ... Hi Rose._

I rolled her eyes and smiled. Lydia was always observant enough to realize when I was checking her thoughts.

"Here we go!" LeaRose said excitedly, opening a compartment door and throwing half her body through the doorway. "Hey Al, mind if we grab a seat?"

"Not at all!" a voice answered far too quickly. "Come in!" I felt a tingle wave up and down my spine as I heard the voice, and adrenaline surged through my head, making my brain feel fuzzy and disoriented. I walked into the compartment, where there were two strangers, and sat down in a corner nearest the door, opposite one of them. She looked and radiated a distinct aura of unhappiness. Her thick hair fell perfectly straight all around her head, you could only tell where her face was because of two locks which were cut at different lengths in the middle of her forehead, not even grazing her eyebrows. They provided a small break through which you saw a small nubby nose, the inner ends of a pair of eyes, but not enough to see the color, and a mouth which was chewing an enormous wad of gum.

"Hi." I said softly. "I'm Rose." The girl raised one hand up from her folded arms in acknowledgment.

"Echo." she replied.

"I'm Al." said a boy from the opposite corner of the compartment eagerly. I smiled. He had obviously not clicked with Echo and was immersing himself in company he better enjoyed. I thought it was cute. The tips of Echo's lips tilted up. Apparently she though the same.

"Hi." Scorpius said, holding out his hand. "I'm Scorpius." Albus took his hand apprehensively.

"Malfoy?"

"Yeah." Scorpius said firmly, making Albus gain a slightly sheepish look. Lydia rushed between the two.

"I'm Lydia, Rose's sister." she said kindly, taking Al's hand and sitting down across from him. He gained a goofy smile.

"Hi." he said stupidly. Scorpius grunted a cough loudly.

"So." "So!" LeaRose and I said louder. Echo smirked a little wider, but no one noticed but me because you couldn't see her mouth under her shimmery hair.

"How 'bout them cannons?" Echo said, a laugh cracking through her dry tone.

"Love them." LeaRose replied, raising her hand.

"The whats?" Lydia asked.

"Cannons. They're a quiditch team." Scorpius said. "Not a very good one at that."

"I resent that!" LeaRose exclaimed.

The conversation flowed from there. The next few hours were mostly filled with Lydia, Scorpius, Albus and LeaRose animatedly exchanging stories, sometimes Echo would throw in a slightly snarky comment, but nothing to bad. I was quiet of course, laughing with everyone and occasionally throwing a comment out with one of Lydia's stories. The fact that I'm blind wasn't brought up, and I was kind of grateful. I didn't want these people to look at me differently than they did now, and the chance to throw in that bit of information just... didn't seem to come up.

Eventually the trolly came by, and everyone took great delight in showing us the different wizarding sweets. No one found the fact that we grew up in a forest that odd. After the war, many family's stayed in hiding for a while and never moved out.

"We should probably get into our robes." Lydia said after a while, biting on a sugar quill, to which she had taken a great love.

"Sounds about right, I think I can see the castle. And don' bite on the quills, it's not healthy." Scorpius chided jokingly.

"Oh you so cannot see the castle yet." LeaRose challenged while Lydia made a show of biting her sugar quill. I chuckled and ate a Bernie Bots Every Flavored Bean.

"Honeysuckle." I said pleasantly.

"Ugh, you never get any bad ones." Echo groaned, reaching over and picking up a bright red bean. "Oh!" she exclaimed before cackling maniacally.

"What is it?" Albus asked, looking slightly terrified.

"Bhut Jolokia." she laughed. When I thought about it, I realized it was the first time Echo had laughed the whole trip. "Worlds hottest chili pepper!" Albus stared at her.

"How do you know that?!"

"My dad-" suddenly all the laughter flew out of her and she continued in her previous depressed manner. "My dad went to Northern India for business and I ate one there. The diplomat's son gave it to me as a joke. I've always been able to stomach spicy foods, he was incredibly disappointed and shocked in my reaction."

And that was the most she had said about herself the whole trip.

We quietly changed into their robes and the train arrived about an hour later.

LeaRose

I am... exhilarated. All my life I'd looked forward to coming to Hogwarts here it was, dark and looming and slightly creepy looking but magnificent all the same. Scorpius and I got separated from NoraRose, Al and Lydia in the crowd. Echo had just walked off. I liked Echo, but I got a feeling she was hiding something.

"First years!" yelled a loud voice over the din. "Over here first years! First years!"

"Sounds like us." I said, and headed for the voice, Scorpius clutching my hand so hard it was turning white.

"Come on, man up!" I told him excitedly, a huge grin on my face. "Where's your courage?!"

"Well I doubt I'm meant for Gryffindor!" he yelled back. "Just a guess!" I laughed because I was so hyped up.

"Six to a boat!" the loud voice rang. I practically skipped over to the lake edge, Scorpius scrambling behind me. I tried to get into the boat.

"AHHH!"

But suddenly it flipped over. For no particular reason whatsoever. Because I'm not clumsy or anything. Anyways, I was completely drenched in icy water. Scorpius laughed out loud.

"Bugger." I cried, looking down at myself. "Well don't just stand there, help me up!" Scorpius dumbly held out a hand and pulled me to my feet, then helped me get into the boat, a little more careful this time. "Damn it's _freezing_." I chattered as I said down, grabbing my shoulders. "I wish I knew a drying spell, my wands got to be somewhere..." Just then, a handsome boy with _long _black brown hair climbed into the boat, quickly followed by another boy and two girls.

"Oo, looks like you got into a sticky situation." the handsome boy said. I smiled embarrassedly. "I'm Stephan Bourgeois."

"Rose- well, LeaRose. And this is Scorpius." Scorpius waved.

"And _I'm_-" one of the girls said, budding between me and Stephan, "Marley, Marley Goode." I was aback for a moment at her blunt, ah, flaunting, and while I was Marley began the most disgustingly boastful story I had every heard. After about 15 seconds of it I pulled myself into a very snooty pose, imitating Marley behind her back while she crooned at Stephan. "My father, Cormac Goode, you've heard of him I'm sure, he's rather common on the chocolate frog line- "

"Darling, _DARling_." I gushed silently, laying a hand affectionately on Scorpius's shoulder, who held back a snigger.

"Well, he took me to see that Holy Head vs. Cannons game the other week, in the top box of course and _do you know_ who we ran into?"

My mouth formed a dramatic "o" and I raised my fingers to my lips in suspense.

" Daddy's _dear, old, friend_..." she said slowly, to be sure everybody heard her. "Ginny Potter. She was so _ happ-_" But she was interupted,because just then, I broke into a huge fit of giggles.

"_ happy _to see us!" Marley continued determinedly over my uncontrolled laughter. "She was there with her husband, _ Harry Potter_. And of course her kids. One of them is going to be in our year-" My cackling reached its all time peak. "AND I DARESAY HE REALLY ENJOYED MY COMPANY! HE _SAID_ HE WOULD LOOK FOR ME ON THE TRA- _WHAT IS SO FUNNY?!_"

I started to calm down before I broke into laughter all over again.

"Whew- gosh I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Nothing. Nothing is funny at all." I said. By the last word my expression was completely blank. Everyone in the boat looked at me like I was crazy, but I wasn't going to say what was on my mind. _I'd_ had been at that game too, and the uncomfortable, slightly disgusted expression on Al's face was anything_ but _ "really enjoying her company." and he had later told me I was lucky my parents were less famous than his. We joked about that all the time and I had never thought it was more true.

However, I do in fact have morals. While I did not like this girl, I'd never humiliate her like that, even if it made me look insane. Which it did. There were a lot of people from nearby boats who were gaping at me incredulously.

"I'm sorry, I never caught your names." I said kindly to the boy and girl to inconspicuously change the subject.

"Scotch Tucker." the boy said. "Some people call me Tucker, some people call me Scotch. Take your pick." he held out his arms and I high-fived him.

"Verity Tills." the girl said stiffly when I turned to her. Verity looked like a cute, prim little girl who did what she was told and needed someone telling her what to do. Personality wise, she was porridge gray. She had dusty bangs which perfectly reached just above her eyebrows and the hair at the crown of her head was pulled into a plait, the rest of it was wavy and riding down her back. Her eyes were chameleon, and her skin was translucent. It could not have been clearer that if Verity thought of people as tea, she would have spat me out because I was _way_ to strong. Verity would want someone perfect, and powerful. Someone who had connections and wasn't afraid to take the lead, and of course would look fabulous while being so.

Who in the world could she choose from?

So here's me. What the hell could I say to her after an analysis like that? The one on my part, not hers. I don't give a damn what she thinks.

"That's french for truth."

"What?" Verity said sharply, squinting at me.

"Verit- _Verité_. It's french for truth." The silence that followed was an awkward one.

"I-uh, didn't know you spoke french." Scorpius said timidly to shatter it.

"Yeah, my aunt was raised in france." I replied. "She spoke it all the time to her kids to get them to learn it, and I see a lot of her, so I picked it up."

"That's really cool." Stephan said. "I'm french too, my dad was Canadian, his granddad moved there from Belgium. My dad traveled to Germany when he turned seventeen and met a dirt-poor half veela working as a street musician. You know how it goes from there."

"My mother went to france once." Marley quipped while we laughed, and Verity looked indignant that everyone ignored the comment. I looked up and realized that the looming castle was even more looming than previously. It was colossal giant hovering over my head. We were almost at the docking point.

"Hey!" a voice said from a nearby boat. "Sorry I missed you." the happy face of Albus Potter came into view, illuminated by the lamp on the tip of his boat. NoraRose and Lydia were barely visible behind him.

"Al!" Marley said excitedly. I froze for a moment, horror struck.

"Marley don't-" I hissed, trying to get in front of her, but it was too late.

"_Albus Potter_!" she emphasized. "It's fine. I was looking for you on the train-"

"Marley!" I snarled under my breath, shoving her thigh. Marley discreetly swatted me away as if to say "Back off Harry potter's son, he's mine!"

"Um..." Albus said. "I-ah I'm really sorry, maybe I have the wrong boat, I was looking for my-"

_Say cousin, don't say friends. Say cousin, don't say-_

"-friends, we got separated when everyone was leaving-"

"Al!" I cried desperately while Marley's face turned red. What can I say? I tried to save the girl's dignity, I really did. Stupid thing didn't listen to a word I said. "Hey, me and Scorp jumped this boat. Did you guys row all this way to get to us?" I asked incredulously.

"No, we bribed the giant squid to boast us all the way here. Scared Myra here half to death." came a familiar dry voice, accompanied by a pat on what I assumed was Myra's back.

"Echo! I thought you wandered off and found some hot fifth year ravenclaw to exchange dark poetry with!" I exclaimed.

"She scared him off and came back to us on her knees." NoraRose said, just as the tip of the boat hit the shore and they all climbed out.

"I probably shouldn't have shown him the one about the vampire serial killer." Echo said maniacally. The five of us banded together on the walk up, and Stephan and Scotch Tucker seemed to have taken a liking to us and stayed close, so of course Marley Goode did the same, and so of course, follwed Verity Tills. We were guided into the castle, where a spirit my cousin's had warned me about called Peeves pelted all of us with water balloons. Laughing, I caught one aimed at NoraRose and threw it back at him. I aimed expertly, like the great chaser I am destined to be, but unfortunately Peeves saw what I'd done and turned intangible just in time, and proceeded to pelt me with water balloons so fast I could have sworn he'd jammed them into a machine gun.

Screeching with laughter I covered my head with my arms and ran over to my friends, who immediately scattered away.

"You're mental if you think we're drenching ourselves for you!" Echo screamed as one hit her foot.

"Peeves! You are disgracing this school!" A deep hoarse voice yelled sharply. Peeves suddenly erected his back and became highly alert.

"I'm so sorry your barroness! It won't happen again!" and with that he floated away. The owner of the loud voice who had lead us to the castle, a broad jolly looking man dubbed Professor Branson. He gave us a quick speech about the four houses and stuff I'd had already heard a million times from my older cousin's. Finally he lead us all into the grand hall to be sorted. The sorting hat sang it's song and then the first name was called.

**I'm really happy with this chapter. I've planned out everybody in their year and Echo is one of my favorites. The next chapter should be up in a few days, maybe even this afternoon. Review!**


	7. Of roommates and inconspicuous secrets

NoraRose

"Adams, Julia!" called the old man, and right away a tall, nervous looking girl bumbled up to the hat. After a few seconds of thinking, the hat proclaimed;

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Anderson, Helen!" The next girl had an aura of dottiness about her, though nothing seemed out of place in terms of appearance. The moment the hat hit her head it yelled "GRYFFINDOR!"

And so on. So many students were sorted before them. Soon up was Stephan, sorted into gryffindor after slight deliberation on the hat's part. "Darcas, Trinity" was sorted into Slytherin, Joshua Funches was sorted into Ravenclaw, "Goode, Marley" followed Trinity and Julian Grave was sorted into Hufflepuff. One girl, Beatrice Hearth, was called, then the man recalled that she would not be attending and continued sorting. Sayler Jackson was sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Linkman, Frejaw-ha!"

"Frejasha." called a voice angrily, rolling the r. "FRÉ-HA-SHA!" and we watched as Echo moodily stormed away from us, detaching herself up from the crowd and jammed the hat on her head.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat yelled, without missing as beat. "Lucile, Jack" was sorted into hufflepuff, but I barely noticed. Echo had called herself by a different name, but she was oddly defensive about the one she had shunned.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

I suddenly forgot my musings as ripples of whispering washed over the crowd and Scorpius walked stiffly up to the hat, his face pale and his knuckles white. He put it on, and one moment passed, then another... the brim of the hat opened wide and it called out,

"SLYTHERIN!"

The whispers were frantic and furious, almost disappointed, exceptfor the slytherins, who cheered loudly. One Gryffindor and four Hufflepuff's later, Al was called up. He sat down, twitchy, on the seat, but no one seemed as interested in him as Scorpius. It was Harry Potter's son, what other house could he be sorted in but-

"SLYTHERIN!"

_"Slytherin?"_

"Woah."

"What did it say?!"

"Harry Potter will be so ashamed..."

I had rarely felt worse for someone than I did for Albus as he walked over to the slytherin table, where he was greeted with cold glares. Within the next thirty seconds, pasta and meat sauce splated on the side of his face, but no one saw who threw it. It was a another first year, Horizon Flint.

I felt LeaRose tense up beside me, her breath hitched in her throat.

"He was so worried- no one thought much of it- oh Al." she whispered.

"Puller, Blake!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Rogue, Megha!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Sanders, Lydia."

"Lydia, that's you." LeaRose hissed, prodding her in the back. Lydia's head snapped to attention and she shuffled up to the hat.

"SLYTHERIN!" it called after a moment.

"Sanders, Rose."

I walked delicately up to the hat, one foot fell softly in front of the other, adorned in my best white moccasins. Well, off-white. Made from the skin of a snow rabbit, just after he'd died. They were warm, with soft ribbons crossing up to my knees and I only wore them on special occasions to keep them clean. I focused on them, even though my head was facing the stool. I picked up the hat and put it on.

_My, my, my..._

I gasped. This hat had seen inside the minds of so many people, and I saw them all now, in the first split second I wore the hat. It was so much information I let out a small whimper.

_Oh dear. You must excuse me. I haven't had a student like you since your grandmother. She too, was rather overwhelmed by the minds of her peers. Well, only one place for you then-_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Mutely, I hopped off the stool, took off the hat, put it down, turned around, and sprinted to the gryffindor table silently in my rabbit skin shoes.

LeaRose

I was the third to last sorted. Weasley. A name at the bottom of the alphabet.

I was in gryffindor of course, unlike Al. But I wasn't that sad anymore, now that I'd gotten over the shock. Al had Lydia and Scorpius to keep him company, and I had NoraRose. I should probably get to know the other people in my year too, come to think of it. I looked around. NoraRose was on my left, chatting with some guy from hufflepuff seated behind her. On my right was my cousin Louis and his girlfriend Margie, whom I'm pretty sure is also an ex of James. Sure enough, a few seats down across the table, there was an incredibly broody looking James. Directly across from me was a girl who looked shy, but pretty friendly, kind of asian-eskimo, with a wide flat face, strong rounded cheekbones, coarse, feathery black-brown hair and tilted eyes.

"Hi, I'm LeaRose." I said. I really like my new name. I might try to get Emmy to catch on to, for Emmeline. The girl smiled shyly and looked back down at her pasta critically, poking a piece with her fork.

"She doesn't talk." NoraRose said, suddenly joining the conversation. The girl looked up, her large almond eyes frightened. "Oh it's all right," NoraRose hurried to reassure. "I'm just an occlumens, I can read thoughts. I don't go around reading people thoughts, that just floated over to me. I'm NoraRose. Oscie, yeah?" the girl nodded warily, looking downwards to eat the pasta piece and prodding at a bit of broccoli.

"That is so cool." I said, eyeing NoraRose. "I wish I could do something like that. I'm just a contortionist."

"A contortionist?" quipped a deep, sugary voice down the table. I looked over and saw the dotty looking girl called second during sorting, and I realized she looked extraordinarily like a dog. This was neither good nor bad, just very, very odd. She had long, wispy straggling white/straw blond hair exactly the same color as her skin, so it was unclear where her hairline began, pulled carelessly into two halves, one over each shoulder, and large brown eyes. Her chest area as a whole was a bit... _large_, but she had thin shoulders and she wore a long cord around her neck with tags tied to it. "Frabjulous man. Weasley, right?" I nodded. "Yeah. I'm Helen, Helen Anderson. Some people call me Andi."

"Oh. I'll stick with Helen." I replied awkwardly. Helen clopped her tongue and snapped me a thumbs up.

"Cool beans. What's your tag?" she said, addressing Oscie, who almost choked on her soup. She looked at the girl with and expression which could not have clearer said, "Huh?"

"Your name." NoraRose clarified. Thank Merlin for Oclumency. "And it's Oscie. She doesn't speak." she repeated. Helen's eyebrows raised up on her head.

"_Why_?" she asked incredulously. NoraRose shrugged.

"Some of us prefer not to run our mouths all the time." I said. "I'm not one of them, but whatever. Take people as they are." Helen nodded acceptingly.

"Tru-dat."

"Hey Weasley!" a voice called down the table. I looked up again and saw a dorky but charismatic looking boy in glasses and sporting lank sandy brown hair sitting with Stephan and Scotch Tucker. I smiled uncertainly and waved.

"Yeah?"

"You're Harry Potter's niece, right?" My face became stony. I hate it when people ask that. "Woah, touchy!" he said, scootching closer confidently.

"What's it to you Creevey?" Helen said, leaning into the boys view. He wrinkled his nose.

"Creevey? Who says Creevey anymore?" he said, referring to the retro phrase to call someone nosy. No one's really sure where it started.

"My cousins." I snapped. Well, my older cousins. It was popular in their time.

"My cousin and uncle." NoraRose challenged.

"Me." Helen said with attitude. "Who are _you_?"

"Kaleb Montague." he said charmingly, smiling at the lot of us. Oscie stared at him fixedly and something resonated in her eyes, fear, blind fear. Her knuckles quickly turned white from tightly clutching her fork and she seemed to shrink in place, a slightly distant look on her face but her eyes never wavering from the form of Kaleb.

"Stop it." I growled at him, peeking a glance at Oscie. He was frightening her. I don't know what he was doing, but she was absolutely terrified. Kaleb looked taken aback, completely oblivious to Oscie. How could anyone not notice?! Everyone nearby was looking at least mildly concerned for her. There was a fellow first year gryffindor who looked about to ask her what was wrong, but she was cut off by Kaleb's rising voice.

"_Excuse_ me? You think, just because you're uncles and aunts are big stars, cause you're _the _Harry Potter's niece, that you can talk to me like dirt? I've got news for you Weasley, we all expect to be treated with respect here. Man, those magazines got you _all_ wrong. It's because I'm muggleborn, isn't it?" he fired at me, his face contorted into something ugly. I backed down the bench disgustedly.

"If you're such a fan of those bloody magazines, you'd have read that _my mother_ is muggleborn. By the way, my life is my own. My name is_ Rose_, not Harry Potter's niece." I spat. "And I meant that you were terrifying Oscie! It was plain to anybody with eyes, but yours were only for the famous nameless daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley!" Kaleb's eyes flickered to Oscie, who was still trained on him, and when they landed on her tears fell from her wide watered eyes. Kaleb looked like someone who didn't know how to handle a crying girl.

"Jeez- I- I'm sorry." he stuttered, reaching over to her. She flinched and backed as far away from him as far she could.

"I wonder what's up with that." I said.

"He looks shockingly like someone who did something terrible to her." NoraRose said softly. "And she can't get past that. He didn't do anything bad Rose." I looked at Kaleb again, who looked confused and a little hurt.

"Damn. Now I feel bad. I should probably apologize. Hey Kaleb!" He turned around and glared at me. "Sorry." His eyes narrowed for a second, then he nodded curtly. I sighed. Think before you speak Rose, _before_ you speak. I sat with elbows planted on the table and my head buried in my hands. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I turned over and looked at NoraRose.

"You have really nice eyes." I said pensively, and NoraRose's hand jumped to her face.

"Oh. Thank you." she said twitchily. "Um, do you know what time we go up to the dormitories?"

"Why?" I asked, eyeing NoraRose's full plate. "You've barely eaten anything."

"Oh." NoraRose whispered. She picked up the spoon by her plate and ate some mashed potatoes. Shrugging, I started talking to Helen and Oscie.

NoraRose

The dormitory blew my mind. It was large and round, with seven four poster beds. Empty, for the most part, because someone in the common room was putting on a putting on show of fireworks. Each bed had a small table with a glowing candle beside it, and there were three windows. There were two large, convex lumps in the room's side, each with a door on it.

One of them was the entrance, where on the other side of the door there was an ovular spiral staircase leading up to the dormitories for older Gryffindor girls. The second one lead me to discover the most amazing magic yet. Above the door there a wooden sign the word _Lavatory_ lavishly engraved. But the bump was tiny, the space would barely be large enough to hold a very thin person, how were we supposed to wash up in it?

Curiously, I reached out and turned the knob, opening the door. I tapped the stone wall and didn't feel anything inside the space. I slipped off my shoes and carefully placed them against the wall, stepping in with bare feet so as to not soil the moccasins. The moment my toes touched the floor I felt something unexpected. It was a cool, smooth surface. And the moment I touched it, I was flooded with the vision of a new room, much larger, about half the size of the dorm. It had three toilet and three shower stalls, one large cupboard and multiple sinks, all floored with the odd smooth material.

Shocked, I backed out of the room and closed the door. When I left, the vision of the room immediatly disappeared, and all I could feel was what should have been there, a small empty space.

"Man, this is a kicking crib." Helen exclaimed loudly, pushing my aside slightly. "Oh hey, is that the loo?" she ran over and opened the door, walked through it, and disappeared like vapor into the empty space. Fearfully, I sent out a wind into the open door, and there it was, the winds bounced off of the sinks and showers stalls and toilets and the cupboard, but how could it be?

The answer came to me as suddenly as if I'd been pounded on the head with it, and I felt foolish for not having realized it earlier.

"Magic." whispered.

"Yeah. " LeaRose said wistfully, suddenly appearing beside me. "Isn't it awesome?"

"I've heard seen magic like this." I whispered.

"What?"

"Wizards magic was always nixed by the amount of nymph's magic in the forest. I've never seen magic like this." I repeated.

"Woah." LeaRose breathed. Then she grinned. "Well you're gonna love it, we've got our first classes tomorrow. You need to get up at _least_ at 7:30, do you believe that? But we'll get to learn potions, and herbology, and charms and transfiguration and astronomy and flying. Oh Rose, do you know about flying?" I nodded and shut my eyes in concentration. I felt my wings appear, fluttering slowly away from my body, sparkling and large. My solidity became thinner, and I began to shine. Then, my feet lifted delicately off the floor.

"Damn!" LeaRose exclaimed. Oscie, who had sat down on a bed, jumped up to see me, legs half folded, floating in the air, looking almost like a ghost, just a bit more solid and colored. My wings were like wide drapes of silvery aura, and I furrowed my brow. The wings dissolved and I regained my solidity, gently landing on the floor. "No, not that kind of flying, flying on a _broom_!"

"Oh..." I said in realization.

"But that was really cool, it's because you're part nymph right? You mentioned that on the train." I nodded. "How about we get some sleep? I really hope I get up in time, I don't want to miss getting my schedule."

"You rarely get up before 7:30?" I breathed incredulously.

"Hah, I was late getting to the _station_ cause I slept in."

"Well, it's up the clock right now, we should get some Z's fo shiz if you wanna rise in the seven's." Helen said, reappearing to the world suddenly as she stepped out of the lavatory door.

"This bed doesn't have a trunk in front of it," LeaRose commented. "Probably yours Rose." I walked over to the indicated bed and sat down.

"Oo!" I exclaimed, rubbing the blankets. "It's so soft!"

"I know." LeaRose smirked. "Hey, can I see you get your trunks out?"

As a response I unhitched my bubbled earrings and held it out in front of me. Curious, Oscie and Helen watched from their respective beds as well as I swept my hand under the bubble and it swayed towards my fingers longingly. I swung my palm back under it again and pressed upwards sharply. The bubble indented upwards and then froze. I snorted.

"It always freezes!" I trilled. "Lydia's always better at this. Hold on, let me try again." I let out a deep breath, and preformed the same motions. This time, the bubble opened like petals of an upside-down flower and the miniature trunk fell onto the blanket.

"Dang man that's tubular." Helen whispered. Oscie nodded. I repeated the same thing on the other earring that held miscellaneous things in an even tinier, collapsable trunk. They too fell onto the sheets, but I realized something just then.

"Oh no, no one told me how to get them back to their real size!" I giggled. "Does anyone know how to get to the slytherin dorm so I can ask Lyd?"

"Who's Lyd?" Helen asked.

"My twin."

"Oh."

"Wait, I think I read the charm to make things bigger." LeaRose said. She went over to the bed with her two trunks and four bags in front of it and unclasped a bag, drawing out her wand. "_Engorgio_!" she cried, and the trunks inflated perfectly.

"Thank you." I said, and I moved the trunks onto the floor. I unclasped the bigger one and pulled out a thin tunic and got ready for bed. the other three gryffindors joined them a while later and immediately dropped on their beds.

That was a worryless night, and the students of hogwarts slept deeply and sweetly, all worries forgotten, all secrets let go of, and all stress that was to come was in a distant place. The same could not be said, however, for one man, still up at his grand desk, talking frantically to a dark cluster of cloaked figures in an office concealed by a Griffin door-knocker, a spiral staircase, and a dozing gargoyle.

**As promised, up in like, three days! **

**So I left you guys a little cliffie there. Sort of. I'm pretty happy with this chapter, I had a bit of a tough time doing it. You'll notice that I have a **_**lot**_** of characters. There are 50 students in this year and I have housed and named and even **_**draw**__**n**_** some them (the ones I've drawn have more complex background stories cough-EchocoughOsciecouch).**

**I'll try to get the next chapter up in about a week, maybe friday afternoon.**

**Happy Sunday! R&R!**

**-Mary**


	8. Of a fluffy carpet and Alice Longbottom

The First Morning

LeaRose

I felt like someone had been pumping raw coffee into my system the whole night I'd slept. That always happens when I'm excited about something, like christmas, or a birthday, or when I know we're going on a trip. My fingers were twitching and my eyelashes were fluttering blankets over my jetting eyes. Finally I couldn't keep it in and I sat up briskly, hurriedly looking around. I saw my hangings. Of course. I should have seen that coming. Why didn't I see that coming? I've got hangings all around my bed. I should know these things, I'm smart.

Soft sunlight brushed up on the other side of the crimson fabric, and I suddenly felt like I had to calm down. But how could I do that?! I was at Hogwarts! I WAS AT HOGWARTS! Bouncing, I reached over to pull open the hanging when I heard a hushed whisper-yell on the other side.

"No!" And then my hangings were thrown open and I was overcome by a perfect being. No joke. Way up there with Molly and Tori. She had perfect long curly brown hair, not moist-soil, almost-black, wildly tangled curly hair like Lydia's, this girl had waves of curl that folded perfectly over one another in a color like moist chocolate, parted lovelyly down the middle. She had large shining eyes and perfect teeth with a perfect rosy red smile, and cheeks with a blush so perfect they looked almost like spots on her porcelain skin... you know what, imagine a china doll come to life.

"Hi LeaRose!" she chirped in a slight Scottish accent. "At least, that's what NoraRose said, you're LeaRose?"

Now remember, I'm so adrenaline high it wouldn't be surprising if at any moment I shot through the roof. My head started jutting up and down like I was having a seizure.

"Uhhuh,yeah,that'sright. Mymiddlename'sareLeanneEmmeline, andwewentwithLeabecauseitsoundsgood, butyoucancallmeEmmeifyoulike, IlikeEmme, doyoulikeEmme? Ormaybewecouldswitchitaround, likeRoseLea, 'sareallyprettyname, Rosaleen-" and then I felt like a tub that had the plug pulled. All my hyper energy started whirling down the drain, making a small rhythmic whirlpool. Slowly, I reached my hand up to my head. The switch was so sudden it felt sore. My eyelids fluttered and then I fell over softly onto my sheets, closing my eyes sleepily.

"I told you not to talk to her." NoraRose's voice rang, hushed.

"Well how was I supposed to know you were a bonna fide occlumens?!"

"How could you take the risk!" a new voice said. "That girl was about to burn herself up!"

"Well, you have to admit, the odds are definitely against her." A twitchy voice said.

"_Thank you_, Myra."

"Well, I stick with this, if a Rounded Robin Turner is fed to much fuel, either poor on it some gasoline or get the hell a good 50 miles out."

There was a brief silence.

"Yeah I'm going with Oscie on that one." the new voice said laughingly. "Helen, Merlin be happy with the way you are but I can never understand a damn word you say."

I groaned a little. My energy was gone, absolutely drained to very last drop and it sucks to be so helpless. I wish someone would remember me.

"Hey Nora, I think you threw a little too much gasoline on the Rounded Robin Turner." The perfect girl's voice said, and the twitchy voice eclapsed into mad laughter.

"Oh no Rose I'm sorry!" Norarose called out, and a tap turned on in my mind, steadily refilling a good share of my adrenaline rush. I bolted up and off my bed to see all six of my roommates in a circle on the floor, which was now adorned with a very fluffy carpet the color of dough. I sat down and didn't say anything, looking at all of them.

"What the _hell_-" I said, looking at each of them. "just happened to me?" NoraRose ran her hands through the carpet.

"Your energy levels were going kind of, um, critical. I just toned you down a bit." she said. "Because I'm an occlumens, and I can do that." Before I could say anything the perfect girl leaned into the circles, practically crackling with excitement.

"This is a great place to start." she breathed intensely. The girl next to NoraRose looked like she was thinking highly cynical thoughts. I leaned in too, raising my eyebrows.

"Um, start what?" I said bluntly. The perfect girl turned to look at me. She had blazing dark blue eyes.

"Brag a Little." she whispered dramatically. A girl across from her with stringy hair and horned-rimmed bedazzled pink glasses was bouncing in her seat.

"How do you play?" she asked, wide-eyed, and I realized she was the girl with the twitchy voice. What had the perfect girl called her? Moira? The perfect girl grinned.

"You say something about yourself, and then everybody else in the circle says something related until we get to the first person again and then the person next to them does the same. It's a getting to know you thing. We can start now that LeaRose woke up. I'll go first." she sat up and got comfortable, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. "My name is Ginger Brown." She looked to her right, where NoraRose was looking a little freaked out.

"I'm... NoraRose. Sanders." she said, under much prodding from Ginger. The girl next to her looked about ready to burst into hysterics. She had skin the color of brownies and darker, pin-thick dreadlocks falling down to her waist.

"Alicia." she squeaked, and hand over her mouth. "Alicia Vera." Next to her was the girl with the twitchy voice.

"Myra Stevens!" she burst enthusiastically. Helen, who sat to her right, rolled her eyes conspicuously.

"Helen Anderson." she said in a low, deep announcer voice. My turn.

"LeaRose Weasley." I received multiple gasps and widened eyes at that, even though I had kind of been yelling about my name at the dinner table the night before and they all should have heard me then. NoraRose didn't gasp, of course, neither did Oscie, who was sitting next to me. After her we started a new round. Joy.

Hold the phone, Oscie-

"This is Oscie Luu. She doesn't talk." NoraRose said. "But I can do that for you, would that be alright?" Oscie shrugged. Ginger clapped her hands together.

"Alright." she said. "New round. NoraRose, tell us something about yourself." NoraRose blinked.

"Um... I have a twin sister? Lydia. She was sorted into Slytherin." Ginger nodded contently. Alicia looked pensive. She breathed out.

"I'll get this over with." she said. "I used to have a half-brother, Bobby, little less than a year younger than me. He drowned when he was three. Your turn Myra." Myra stared at Alicia for a second, blinking behind her bedazzled, horn-rimmed, pink glasses. Then she cleared her throat.

"I have an older sister, Haley, she's 23. She was in Gryffindor too." she said promptly, then turned to Helen.

"We are all sisters and brothers." Helen declared passionately. "All across the sea, in many different lands and times. We can find a family in every person on this big gray/blue earth of ours. Say it to the hats!" Ginger tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Helen... do you have any _biological_ brothers or sisters?" she said, straining a smile. Alicia smirked.

"I thought it was a nice thought." she said sweetly.

"None that I know of, but how am I supposed to know what what my daddy's doing at all hours of the day hmm?" Helen responded to Ginger evenly. "So happens his mama_ did _raise a fool." I decided to step in before things got nasty.

"I have a little brother!" I said brightly. "Hugo. He'll be coming here in two years. Oscie?"

"She has a little brother too, same age. Violin." NoraRose quipped. We all looked at Ginger.

"I have an three older sister's. Fern is a ravenclaw in Seventh year, Thyme is a Gryffindor in fifth year, and she was adopted. Willow is a third year in Slytherin, and my parents are trying to adopt a little boy named Rowan." she said. I'm picking up a plant theme here. "Okay Alicia, you're turn. Try for something that makes you different from the rest of us." Alicia twisted some dreadlocks in her fingers.

"I have a disorder." she said lightly. "I need to eat more salt than everybody else and my taste buds are more equipped to handle it." As if to prove her point, she got up, turned around and fished a sack of what looked like sugar cubes out of her trunk. She took one out and plopped it in her mouth. "Salt cube. There are lots of salt equivalents to sugar in my world. Myra?" Myra touched her fingertips together twitchily.

"I- uh don't have anything like that." she said. Really? OCD comes to mind.

NoraRose glared at me harshly from across the circle. Hmm. I suppose that's a harsh thought. This girl can make Saint out of me yet. My mom will be so thrilled.

"Me neither." Helen shrugged. "Hey, can I try one of those?" Alicia tossed a salt cube across the circle. "Thanks." I grinned.

"Well, it's not really a disorder," I started. "but I'm a contortionist. The magical kind." This seemed to be the kind of cool, _almost_ touchy-feely bonding thing Ginger had been waiting on.

"Oh thats so neat LeaRose! Can you show us?" she squealed. I shrugged and rolled my eyes.

Hmm, what to do?

The way a magical contortionist is different from a normal contortionist is that apart from just being being amazingly flexible, they can actually squeeze their bodies into a kind of squishy ooze, which is more or less squishy depending on how good you are. I'm scary good. I walked over to my bed and started twisting myself around the bed post. One of them actually screamed. I solidified a little, enough to recreate my lungs and head.

"Was that you Myra?"

"That was Myra." Ginger confirmed. "How long have you able to do that?" she asked mystified. I reformed and sat back down.

"I dunno. It was kinda gradual, but I'd say I really got the hang of it when I was about 7. Freaked out my dad first time he saw it." I grinned at the memory. Dad screamed like he'd seen a spider. What's up with that anyways? Hugo got it too. You just pick them up and brush them outside, no biggie. "What about you Rodelu?" Helen asked. Ginger wrinkled her nose.

"Rodelu?"

"It's how you say Ginger in Haelak Ton, the native language of-"

"The lost tribe of Haelak." Alicia finished. Ginger raised her eyebrows.

"Okay..... Well I don't have anything 'cept kinda pointy teeth and a love of rare meat because my mother got bitten by a werewolf during the battle of hogwarts." I stifled a breath, and vaguely realized we had skipped Oscie and vaguely acknowledged that she doesn't care. "Yeah." Ginger said mournfully. "She's Lavender Brown." Alicia made a long, recognisive "Oh."

"She's that soap actress who sponsors the cure for werewolf bites that weren't taken during the full moon, right?" she said. Ginger gave a wounded snort.

"She's so happens to be the Wings winner for Best Soap Actress in Britain and she opened her own line of beauty products 15 years ago." Myra sniffed. I snapped my fingers and clapped my hands.

"Brown's Beauty Boutique! Ha! My mum refuses to wear the stuff." I laughed. Ginger raised her eyebrows offendedly. I clasped my hands over my mouth. "No that's not what I meant. My dad dated your mom when they were in school because they were in the same year to make my mom jealous and it worked and she was really hurt and eventually your mom broke it off because she thought he and my mum were spending too much time together and they were because they were best friends but I'm not saying that your mom was insecure-"

"You just _had_ to start her up didn't you." NoraRose said. Ginger glared at her. NoraRose shrugged and pointed at Oscie. "It's not me that's thinking it."

"and I guess he was kindof a bastard about it but you have to admit from my point of view your mother isn't that well portrayed but I'm not saying she's bad or anything I mean I've met her before and she told me I was a delicate fall -whatever the hell that meant- but damn, no, I'm not saying your mom doesn't know what she's saying, I'm belittling myself by showing my ignorance in the subject which you mother has chosen to spend her life supporting but I'm not saying that I think she's thrown her life into something pointless-"

"That girl is shoving her foot so deeply down her throat that soon there won't be anything left." Helen proclaimed, looking slightly arrogantly at Ginger, whor bit her fingernails and then yelled over my senseless nervous blabbing.

"I DON'T HAVE DISORDER TYPE THING! NORAROSE'S TURN!"

I laughed at the out burst but quickly stifled it and looked on at NoraRose. She wasn't saying anything, and looked kinda conflited.

"I-" She started to say, her eyes wide. She let out a deep breath and grinned. "I'm part nymph."

'Wow." Ginger said. I yawned. I was getting hungry. I wonder when breakfast started.

"I'm not very talented." NoraRose said bashfully. Or was it boredly? I couldn't tell. "That's more Lyd's thing. My parents think I'll be better at wizards magic."

"Can _you_ show us something?" Myra coaxed.

"Um.. alright?"

"This'll be good." Helen crooned. NoraRose smiled weakly and picked up a stack of papers near my bed and threw them in the air, making everybody yell out. She shot out her arm and the papers started bobbling as if there was a giant fan underneath them. NoraRose twisted her arm sharply and they slid neatly into exactly the same order they were in to start. She turned back around on the back of her heel.

"Um, there you go." She said primly. I started clapping and the other's joined in.

"That's round three." Ginger said loudly. "Helen?"

Helen looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I... am hungry." she looked at me and I groaned.

"You read my mind."

Oscie and NoraRose nodded.

"Okay, let's blow this joint." Alicia said tiredly. Only Myra and Ginger were left sitting on the floor.

"You don't even know when breakfast starts here!" Ginger called after us sniffily. We just continued down the stairs.

"I feel bad about that." I said vaguely. "When _does_ breakfast start?" Alicia yawned.

"Dunno. Damn girl woke me up at 5 singing about her hair or something."

"The earliest we could get in was 10 minutes ago, at 6:30." NoraRose said. "Anybody know the way back to the Great Hall?" We all got to the bottom of the stairs and filed into the common room, where I saw a sleeping, dark-brown haired girl strewn on a sofa.

"Alice!" I called excitedly and bounded over, plopping down next to her. Alice was Maria's sister, one year younger than her. Alice stirred, and her frosty eyelashes fluttered open. She looked groggy and pale, as usual.

Alice had an unusually low immune system and was always getting sick. Anything from some weird little bacteria that no one had ever heard of to the common cold to something truly cripling. She was always deathly pale, from her sickly skin to her dry lips to even her navy eyes, which were several shades whiter than her siblings'. The only thing not pale was her hair, one of the darkest of browns, and that was because of an illness too; both of her parents were blond. She had caught a minor, not very common disease which had darkened her hair in a matter of five minutes, and she had passed it on to some of her siblings, anyone she had come in contact with within a minute of her hair turning dark. But I admired her beyond nearly anybody else in terms of how she handled her crapply sickened life, she was still one of the absolute nicest people you'll ever meet.

I pushed her damp, dark bangs out of her eyes and pressed my lips to her forehead to be sure she wasn't burning up. She was fine, surprisingly.

"Hey Rosie." Alice murmured faintly, brushing me away and getting up. Oh Merlin, her hands were scalding! But she smiled faintly so I guess she was feeling alright. "I'm-I'm fine. What's on your mind?" she squinted around and laughed to herself on spotting the rest of my dorm-mates. "Wait, you don't know how to get down to the Great Hall, am I right?" We nodded. She smiled and shook her head to her shoes. "Alright then, follow me." she reached behind and grabbed a spectacularly engraved and painted cane, pushing her self to standing. Helen cocked her head and I mentally screamed at her.

_DON'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE CANE!_ I shot my head in her direction with wide eyes.

"You have a cane? You're only, what, 14?" she said curiously. Alice rolled her eyes and leaned back and forth on the cane, which came to a bit above her elbows. It was filled with a complete history of Alice's life since a year before she came to hogwarts, which was when she got it. Most of the engravements were done by Alice herself, because she a master carver, and they were painted by her best friend, Eliza, who was an excellent artist. They were going to open a craft shop when they graduated with help from their other friend, Glade, who was really like a power businessy, bargain-maker woman, I think. She'd be good at the business aspect of shop keeping.

"16." Alice replied, making for the exit. "My leg's been paralyzed since I was 10." Alicia's eyes widened, but Alice was already making her way for the door. "I was about to head down anyways. I'll take the long way so you'll learn some of the passage ways. Just pay attention."

"Oh, you don't have too!" Alicia cried quickly. "It'd be better to take the shortest way, so we'll know how to get to the food fastest!" Alice paused and turned around to look Alicia straight in the eye. She cocked her head and Alicia gulped. I knew what she was doing. Alice didn't need to be babied because she had a cane, or she was sick, she never let anybody hold her back if she wanted to do something. I think she was more at rest in her soul than everybody else I know. She was letting Alicia know right off the bat that she didn't need mollycoddling unless she asked for it. Except for us Weasley's, Potter's and her family, but we never abused that privilege. She wasn't stupid and she knew her own limits. Most of the time.

"If that's what you want." Alice said calmly, and turned around again with a new sense of purpose. "So what's your name?" she asked and we all followed her. NoraRose was walking right alongside Alice, and I was on her other side, but the rest were keeping a slight distance. I rolled my eyes and motioned for them to come forward.

"Um, Alicia." Alicia said uncomfortably, twisting her dreadlocks in her hands.

"And this is Oscie, and Helen, and NoraRose. I'm LeaRose now, because both of us are named Rose, so we put part of our middle names in front of our first name so people can tell us apart." I chatted. Alice was listening and walking steadily with her eyes closed, but her head cocked a little towards NoraRose and hummed in acknowledgment.

"Alright then." She said, opening her eyes and walking over to a blank stretch of wall. "A door appears here during lunch time lunch which leads you directly to the hallway in front of the Great Hall." We looked at the wall intrigued. It looked exactly like the rest of wall along the hall.

"How did you tell it apart from the rest of the canvas?" Helen asked, cocking her head. Alice threw her head back and laughed maniacally.

"This is Hogwarts!" Alice exclaimed with as much energy as she could pull together. "What, did you expect a map?" she winked at me discretely. "You learn every trick you can or you lose. It takes some students weeks to figure out how to get anywhere." I was the only one laughing with her, everyone else looked slightly disturbed. Well, NoraRose was smirking, but that could be taken either way.

_NoraRose_

I woke up around 4 like I usually did in the summertime. I blinked open and reveled in the fact that there were other sleeping figures in the same room who probably weren't planning to wake up for a another few hours. I got out of bed and rummaged through my belongings until I found a gremlin fire encased in small sphere of Wertchire flower sap, which was a wax-like liquid commonly used to fabric lanterns in the forest. It was dark orange-brown with flower pulp laced through it and felt just like a candle, but it didn't melt, pulsing a low light for me to see from that wouldn't be bright enough wake my room mates. I quickly found a handkerchief to cover my other lantern, made from a clear sap, so it was much brighter.

I found a pair of short shorts for the humid weather, and a tank I was pretty sure to be white to wear after I bathed, which I planned to do soon because I was burning and sweating in my thick pajamas. It was still chilly though, so I pulled out a long, thin robe and added it to my pile. I found a clip to keep my hair off my neck, and then searched for the bottles of gelatinous paste I used to wash my hair and skin. I knew enough from visiting my uncle Claude and my mothers friends to figure out how the showers worked, so I ventured into the strange loo and after fifteen frigidly wet minutes (not that I minded the temperature, I'm part water nymph. It didn't bother me) I finally exited the chamber. I had re-pinned my hair and had tried to dry myself off with winds like Lydia always did, and I managed a little, but eventually I had to use the fluffy white towels to be completely dry.

I never realized how dependent Lyd and I had been on each other, especially now in the castle, where my nymphian magic is slightly diminished by the huge concentration of wizards magic, and I found myself musing about this as I took out my coffee maker and started heating some water. I was still groggy, even after a freezing shower (which I did not mind). I, probably with an astounding amount of foolishness, seeing as I was only about half conscious, decided to look into peoples mind for some spells to practice while the water was heating. Then again, I was handling the coffee maker, which wasn't exactly risk free, I had burned myself plenty of times. Because I was half conscious making the coffee. Oh well, I lost all sense first thing in the morning. I was only comfortable invading LeaRose's mind for spells because I knew a bit about her, so it was LeaRose's mind I scavenged while looking for my wand.

Hmm... a swelling charm looked like a safe place to start. I felt around for something to swell. My potion sight landed on my owl, Casino, sleeping innocently in his cage. I might have no sense in the morning, but that idea was thrown out before it even formed.

_Goddess!_ What was that _smell_?! My nose lead me to the bed next to mine, where a disgusting glass bottle was reeking from a watery liquid. I pulsed a few winds from my hand to push the stench away and searched LeaRose's mind for a shrinking charm. Or a blasting one. Either would work, really.

I griped my wand loosely in my wrist. It was firm and short, a hybrid of three different woods the wood nymphs made for me, so it looked to be a swirl of three different colors. It's core was a tail hair a Terumphant, a creature like a doe but the size of a large fox, with a long, thick tail it could use like a blanket and magical properties.

Ahh, here we go. Reducio. I raised my wand to the revolting bottle and whiped my wand at it, reaching out to it with my occlumency.

_Reducio!!_

The bottle wobbled for a moment, hopped up and the liquid inside it began to bubble. It radiated light for a moment and then returned to it's normal state. I sat stock still for a moment, then turned to Casino.

"Let's keep that between us, ok?" I whispered. Casino hooted softly and I grinned.

I wondered what Lydia was doing? I reached out to her and found her in the middle of a dream. Lydia was screaming and everything was dark except for her and a vicious monster with boils and windows for eyes. It had towers poking out of its back, legs and arms and it's body was of craggily cinderblocks and broken wood planks.

"AHHHHHH!!!" Lydia shrieked. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!" The monster laughed from deep inside.

"STAY AWAY FROM YOU?!" it boomed. "_YOU'RE_ CHASING _ME_!" and then she and I realized that yes indeed, Lydia was chasing the monster, not the other way around.

"W-what?" Lydia breathed. Then an erie, young voice came from inside the monster. One of his window-eyes lit up and it was... _me. _But a weird me. Like a zombie me.

"Lyyyyyyy-diaaaaa." Zombie-me said in a soft, wind-like sing-song voice.

"ROSE!" Lydia screamed hysterically, running to the castle with a new vigor. Zombie-me laughed.

"Come inside Lyddie, come inside-" Zombie-me giggled. Lydia had tears running down her face, she was still running after the monster but she was terrified of it. "Come inside." I had to do something. I tapped into Lydia's subconscious and changed everything. The background was suddenly bright white and the monster jumped and became a normal, though small, castle. I wasn't like a zombie anymore, I took my own place and grinned warmly from inside the castle. I laughed. "What are you doing out there Lydia? Come inside." Lydia stared open mouthed and blinked, then she reached out her hand and magically mine reached down 15 feet to grab hers. I pulled her up and inside through the window. "Is this really so bad?" I asked her. She looked around with cautious, wide eyes. Hesitantly she stepped out of my arms and looked around. I giggled impishly and kissed her forehead.

"Have a good morning Lyddie." I winked and disappeared, jolting back to the moment. I like dreams better sometimes. Dreams, I can change. Anything goes.

The girl in the bed next to mine with the foul smelling bottle had gotten up and looked like a siren, brushing her hair in long, deliberate strokes, and she was singing a soft little lullaby as she did.

"Mmmm the boys'll woo hoo hoo hoo hoot." she sang delicately, going higher and slower with every syllable. I could sort of tell the lyrics of the song right as she said them. Not because she was thinking them, no. This song was disturbingly familiar, I just don't remember from where. She started mounting down. " and the men, will drop their jaaws... cause I'm using Browns, Bo-dy lo-tion, and I- am on the prowl." Then I remembered. It was a stupid jingle on mum's friend Goldie's telly. The girl continued to sing the same thing, with every new verse naming a different Brown's product.

It was quite pointless. And ennausiating. I went and checked my coffee.

"ACK!"

Well, at least it was hot. I used what little nymphian magic I had to summon some water from the pitcher on the window sill and bought it to rest on my hand, which felt tender and raw and sighed under the cool water. I should know by now not to thrust my hand onto potentially scalding glass, but hey, I'm half conscious. There was a dramatic clatter and a dramatic gasp and a dramatic, high pitched, "Oh _no_!" and the singing girl stopped and perched next to me. With drama.

"Are you alright?" she asked, teary, hands on her knees. I blinked at my nee. This girl must not be very intelligent.

"No," I said slowly. "I just burned myself." Another dramatic gasp. I groaned inside. Mum always says to be polite to people who seem rather inept. "Uh huh. Does Brown's have anything for burns, by chance?"

***

"It's really quite simple once you get the gist, you just list each Brown's product in the order of Reverse Alphabetical Category, then sub-category item code, then by each products popularity." Quite possibly I am wrong on the inept front.

The singing girl, who I soon learned thought to herself in third person told me as we sat on her bed. Her name was Ginger, and she thought very loudly. People who think loudly I have either been close to for years and years (Lydia, my parents) or they are having overwhelming emotions.

And with Ginger, I had a little radio from her head, and it was very obnoxious.

"May I _please_ go finish making my coffee?" I moaned sluggishly. "The water will get cold." Ginger looked scandalized.

"Merlin no! You could hurt yourself again!"

"I hurt myself all the time, this is just a minor burn. Not even that. Go back to singing about your hair." I ran my fingers through my own bushy, towel dried hair and made my way over to the hot pitcher on the floor.

"What's your name?" Ginger asked me gravely from behind. I scooped coffee beans into the crusher.

"Rose. NoraRose. That's LeaRose over there." I pointed to her bed and I felt Ginger nod.

"Well NoraRose, if you truly do hurt yourself, I think it's necessary for me to report you to the hogwarts counselor." I rubbed my eyes and pressed down on the coffee bean crusher. A buzzy drill filled the room and I was afraid I'd wake someone up. Oscie rolled over in her bed and a girl who's name I didn't know moaned a little in her sleep, but no one woke up. I put the grinds into an already coffee-stained handkerchief and lowered them into the steaming water.

"No, not on purpose." I told Ginger tiredly. "I'm just not fully functional until I've had my coffee." I also partake in numerous dangerous activities in the forest, but she didn't need to know that.

"Well still-"

"Ginger, please. Go back to brushing your hair." I sat cross-legged at the foot of my bed and tried to relax while I waited for the coffee to steep. Ginger sniffed, but then began singing again. It was really an obnoxious tune, and I had the patience you can only gain by growing up in a utopian society, in which there is a distinct lacking of obnoxious or even mildly unpleasant things. This was made up for in part by being Lydia's sister, who, while at the best of times was a saint, was usually rather the curmudgeon. But this heinous song...

So I went against everything I stood for and invaded her mind. I planted a new song in there and got the heck out, because it was a frightening place to be. This girl was the result of growing up in a _materialistic_ utopia, raised with next to no valid morals, excluding her belief that everyone should love everyone else no matter what they do, and that she deserves the absolute best. Always.

It was the way she was brought up, so I didn't_ want_ to dislike her because it wasn't her fault, but I madly hoped someone else was up.

"I'm going down to the common room." I told Ginger out of politeness. She nodded and continued whistling the song I had put in her head. Ironically enough, it was also a song about brushing your hair, but it was one a bit easier on the ears that a particularly obsessive Life Imp had created while grooming a fox. I would come up in a few minutes when the coffee was done. I felt a slight longing for it on Ginger's part and turned around briefly in the doorway.

"And Ginger..." she looked up. "don't touch my coffee." I whipped around smartly and fumbled down the stairs. I got out into the common room and saw I an older student, probably around sixth year, on the floor near the fireplace. She turned around when she heard me come down.

"Hi." she murmured tiredly. "Why are you up?" I felt how she was feeling. Lydia said this what I did instead looking people over. She was... fuzzy. Warm. No- hot.

"You're ill." I stated. She smirked.

"I can't go back to sleep. Thought I'd wait for the sun to rise." she looked at the fire. "It's too cold to wait by the window." she shivered lightly. I walked over next to her.

"I've never seen a sunrise." I said quietly, looking out the window. "But I have some tea up in my room. It'll make you sleepy. You need rest." She smiled.

"That sounds nice." she murmured with gratitude, and I got a faint thought about her liking sugar. "I'm Alice."

"Rose. NoraRose." I turned around and ran back up to my room.

Ginger looked up in surprise when I reentered and I rummaged around and found my case of tea. I put a scoop into another stained handkerchief like I did with the coffee grinds, and pulled some of the hot water from the coffee pitcher. Under Ginger's cautious eyes I prepared a cup of tea as well as took the coffee I made for myself. Distantly I noticed that the girl with the bed on the other side of the door (my bed being beside the first), had woken and was strongly irritated by Ginger's singing. I have to say, she's not that talented

I came back down and found Alice right where I left her, shivering by the side of the fireplace, but she had an injection needle jabbed into her arm. She hissed a little as she pulled out the thick needle and looked up to see me.

"Oh." she said faintly. "You're back fast."

"Yeah, I was making coffee so I already had the hot water. Here." I handed her the tea. "It's still steeping." I paused, the pointed at the needle. "What's that?" Alice looked vaguely uncomfortable.

"Ah, it's an injection. I need to take it every morning, or else I'll probably get sick." She sipped her tea. "This is really good." I smiled and drank my coffee.

"Thanks."

"Any reason you brought tea with you?" she whispered, but she wasn't thinking about the tea, she was off in her own little hazy world. She's probably pretty good at covering up how tired she always is.

"It helps me get to sleep." I shrugged, skating over _why_ exactly I had problems getting to sleep. We had a drifting conversation for a little while. Then, out of nothing, she smiled.

"Never seen a sunrise NoraRose? This one's a beauty." she whispered. I hugged my arms.

"Actually, I've never really seen anything. I'm... blind." I replied. The two of us, we're quiet people. She won't tell.

"You don't want anybody to know?" Alice scoffed. "Love, it's gonna be a little hard to keep that under wraps."

"Not as hard as you may think." I replied loftily, and Alice snorted. "Really, I'm an occlumens, so I won't have trouble reading or anything, I have this potion-"

"And I'm sure it works fine." Alice interrupted. "Let me tell you about the first days of my first year. I'm always getting sick, but I thought, "Hey, maybe I can start over. No one will treat me like a baby or avoid me like the bloody black plague because it's not uncommon for me to have a cold. I figured out how to balance myself on my leg here without a cane, I borrowed make-up from my mother to cover up my skin. It doesn't end pretty. Either you crack early on and people think you keep all sorts of secrets, or you break later and your friends feel betrayed because you didn't tell them earlier, or you never tell them and you end up always keeping the secret. I say the earlier you let it out the better. Don't lie." We sat in silence for little bit.

"You won't tell anybody?" I asked. Alice sighed disappointedly and shook her head.

"No Love, I won't breath a word." There was a distant thud upstairs. One of my roommates had rolled out of bed.

"I have to go check on that, it was in my dorm." I said, and got up. Alice headed over to the couch.

"Here, take your cup. That was excellent tea Love, I think I'll have a nap." I doubled back and took the cup from her frail hands. Frail... _hot_ hands.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" Alice murmured, making her way to the sofa. "Yes Love I'm fine."

I frowned doubtfully but turned around and headed up the stairs. Because even though she had been tired enough to collapse but it took a drugged out tea to make her asleep, even though her hands could fry an egg, even though she had a throbbing headache, she felt, on her terms, absolutely fine. And that made me so sad I almost cried.

I walked into my dorm and there was something new. A large, circular, fluffy carpet.

"Oh NoraRose, you're back! Isn't this carpet just _precious?_!" Ginger exclaimed. I blinked. The girl who had been woken up by Ginger's singing had crossed her arms and glared.

"Yes NoraRose, isn't it just precious?" she said dryly. "My grandfather skinned it himself." Which was a lie. But Ginger squealed and hopped off the rug like oil on a frying pan, landing on her bottom. I turned to look at the apparent owner of the rug.

"I heard something fall." I told her. She smirked.

"I ah- surprised an old friend of mine." she replied. "I'm Alicia, by the way. How long have you been suffered to withstand princess priss over here?" she jerked her shoulder towards Ginger. I shrugged.

"About 4:30 in the morning." She blinked. "Do you want some coffee Alicia?" I asked.

"Oh I'd murder for the rinds." Helen's voice called from the floor. Oscie, who had also woken and was reading a large, worn book, looked up and quirked an eyebrow. I looked over and quirked an eyebrow. Alicia looked at the two of us and rolled her eyes.

"This my old friend, Helen Anderson. Eats like a goat." Helen stood up and crossed her arms.

"The rest of y'all are just picky cacti." she said in her deep, sugary voice. It was a hard voice to explain. Imagine a cup of black coffee, filled to the brim with sugar. It would be weird right? Kinda gritty, but not really, because it was sugar, and it would be deep, or deep looking, because the coffee would be black. A little sloshy, but rich. I really liked her voice.

Ginger looked up from the floor and blew out of her mouth, making a lock of hair fly to the side because her hair was too long to fly upwards.

"'Picky cacti'?" she almost sneered. Poor thing was upset. Alicia made a face and laughed.

"Quit your whining. Helen comes up with the zaniest things to say. Out dads are travelers, and she's picked up some weird sayings along the road. So have I, I just don't use them. Or remember them." Helen laughed. Her laugh was surprisingly huge and deep-settled in her stomach for someone so petite.

"There's also that!" There was a quite whimper that made all of us go silent. Then a contented sigh and a smacking sound.

"What the frankfurter?" Helen sloshed, slowly and incredulously. Oscie and I looked at her oddly for a moment and then refocused on where the sounds where coming from.

"Next to my bed!" Alicia whisper-yelled.

"Et la mien!" Helen said suddenly. We all stared at her that time. She sighed. "Sorry, that was in french wasn't it?"

We nodded.

Helen shrugged.

"And mine!" she retook.

"Myra's bed?" Ginger questioned. "Hey, Myra!"

"ARRGH!!!" The bed in between Helen's and Alicia sprung alive, revealing a tousled girl. "What is _wrong_ with you people?! Let me sleep!" She reached over for a dramatic pair of jeweled horn-rimmed glasses and shoved them over her pretty, large eyes. They widened even more when she saw who had spoken to her.

"Ginger!" she squealed reverently. "Oh no I'm sooooooo sorry!" Ginger tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"No biggie." she shrugged. Then her eyes sprung to life. "Hey," she grinned. "Let's all get in the circle, I know something we can do." Confusedly, we all sat down in front of our beds on the rug.

"How the sam-heck is that girl dreaming through all this?" Helen whispered suddenly, and we all saw there was a gap in front of LeaRose's bed. I looked inside her head and immediately jumped back out. She was asleep, but her mind was whirling dangerously fast. She'd probably wake up any second now and ricochet off the walls and then drill a whole in the floor and the next floor and the next and pop back out in India somewhere.

"Dunno, I'll go wake her up." Ginger started to skip over to LeaRose when I grabbed the her silky pajama bottom leg and whispered harshly "_No_." She shook me off and bet down next to me.

"Why?" she said, irritated, folding her arms. I blinked

"If you wake her up, she'll explode. She has too much energy and-"

"How do _you_ know that, you've barely known her half a day." Ginger said loudly and smugly. Well, she didn't say it smugly, but that's how she felt.

"_Please_-" I whispered. Oh damn. She woke up. "I'm an occlumens, I- _No_!" I whisper-yelled as Ginger scoffed and sauntered over to LeaRose's bed.

"Hi LeaRose!" she said brightly. "At least, that's what NoraRose said, you're LeaRose?"

* * *

**Am I soooooo not going to lie. That was way more than a week. I'm really really sorry, so I'll give my readers a choice. Those of you who review anyways. Longers chapters and sparce updates or shorter chapters and more frequent updates. (Just a hint, you'll probably benefit from a wait.)**

**The next chapter will be the first morning from different characters points of view, and you get chose. Lydia? Echo? Al? Oscie? Mystery teacher who has a fairly developed background? Mystery students? Someone's parents? LYDIA'S CAT?!**

**Go wild, have fun, review, I want to know what you think. Thank you so much for the people who have me on author or story alert, I'm probably going to work next on a story on hpff, "The Trying life of Mary Macdonald"**

**Love you guys! **

** -Mary**


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